Prison ordered for Wichita mom who killed infant daughter for ‘crying all the time’
A Wichita mother who admitted to strangling her 1-year-old daughter because the baby was “crying all the time” has been ordered to serve 14 years, 8 months in prison.
Neriah Dilley, 29, pleaded guilty on Feb. 1 to second-degree murder and abuse of a child in the Oct. 9, 2021, death of 13-month-old My’onna Townley, court records show. Sedgwick County District Judge Kevin Mark Smith imposed the 176-month sentence on Friday, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
Wichita police arrested Dilley after officers who responded to a 911 call at her home, in the 800 block of South Mission, found My’onna unresponsive and in critical condition around 3 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2021. She was taken to a hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead two hours later.
Dilley initially told police she had woken up to the sound of My’onna gasping for air after they’d both laid down for naps. She told police she performed CPR and called 911 for help, according to a probable cause affidavit released by the court.
But first responders noticed suspicious-looking bruises on the girl’s body and what looked like ligature marks around her neck, the affidavit says.
Dilley explained the extensive bruising on the her daughter’s face and body by saying the girl’s older sibling had hit her with a small toy pony and recently pushed her out of a chair onto a porch, according to the affidavit.
She later admitted to detectives that she felt “overwhelmed with My’onna crying all the time” and had put her hands around her daughter’s throat and mouth to silence her, the affidavit says. She told police she was sorry and thought her daughter was OK until My’onna started having trouble breathing 22 minutes after she’d been choked, the affidavit says.
My’onna’s autopsy report shows she had blunt force trauma injuries, multiple bruises, brain bleeds and a broken jaw. She also had healing fractures on multiple ribs, the report says.
