MINNEAPOLIS - Sentencing for the former day care provider convicted of hanging a toddler is underway at the Hennepin County Government Center.
Nataliia Karia pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder, assault and criminal vehicular operation charges in the November 2016 incident that left two adult men and a 16-month-old toddler hurt.
Karia’s sentencing is being done in two phases. Wednesday’s hearing consisted of testimony, as her attorneys are asking the judge to depart from the Minnesota Criminal Sentencing Guidelines and give her probation instead of prison time.
She will learn her sentence at a later date.
Claire and Jennifer Booth, the mothers of the toddler, gave emotional victim impact statements in court.
“Based on prior actions and history, I would not feel comfortable with simply probation. Because everybody that has testified today has said they trusted her with their children. Well you’re fine and you’re trustworthy and you’re caring until you’re not,” Claire Booth said.
For most of the hearing, attorneys questioned Karia’s son Denys about his mother’s state of mind in the weeks leading up to the incident.
Denys Karia said his mother had a physically abusive husband in Ukraine who left her for another woman. She then married an American named Sudhir Karia. Denys testified that their marriage was abusive, and Sudhir put constant pressure on her to make money through her daycare business, despite him having a job that paid six figures.
Denys testified that his mother told him she had suicidal thoughts and a week before the incident told him she was worried she might hurt someone else, such as her baby daughter. Despite that, Denys testified that Sadhir did not allow her to go to the emergency room and seek help.
Joseph Sabir testified about the morning he saved the toddler in Karia’s basement. Sabir said he brought his daughter to Karia’s daycare, and he could tell the woman was not acting herself. She told him to call police.
“I thought she misspoke and was asking for an ambulance. I told her before I do anything, why don’t we sit down and you tell me what happened,” Sabir said. “She then said, ‘Maybe if you take him down, he’ll survive.'”
Sabir testified that he then heard crying from the basement and found the toddler hanging from a noose made out of child tights.
“I believe what transpired that day was not a reflection of her and who she was from everything I’ve gathered from people. With a lot of medical care and treatment and support I don’t think she poses a risk to the public or her children,” Sabir said.
Outside the courtroom, the toddler’s mothers were able to thank Sabir for the first time and each gave him an emotional embrace.
Karia faces nearly 13 years in prison, according to the sentencing guidelines. Judge Jay Quam will hand down her sentence at a later date.