Central Illinois woman gets 3-year term for baby's death

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) - A central Illinois judge has sentenced a 22-year-old woman to three years in prison in the 2014 death of her 11-week-old daughter.

McLean County Judge Robert Freitag on Tuesday sentenced Elizabeth Potts, who was convicted in December of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. She previously was found at fault for leaving the baby in a car seat overnight while dressed in a snowsuit and covered with a blanket.

Medical reports show baby Leah-Renee Crafton died in November 2014 from a seizure disorder linked to a brain injury she suffered during the suffocation.

Potts on Tuesday told the judge, "It's been hard. I loved my daughter so much."

Potts' husband at the time, Timothy Crafton, served two years in prison after pleading guilty to child endangerment in the baby's death.