South LA mother who fatally choked, beat her 4-year-old daughter sentenced

Tuesday, November 28, 2023
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A South Los Angeles woman has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after pleading no contest to beating and choking her 4-year-old daughter to death.

Akira Keyshell Smith, 37, was sentenced Tuesday after victim impact statements were presented in court from the child's brothers, grandmother and aunt.
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Smith's daughter Eternity died on Aug. 11, 2020. Her other sons, who are now in foster care, testified in preliminary hearings that she assaulted and abused the 4-year-old girl.

The day Eternity died, Smith slapped, kicked, hit and choked her daughter until she was unconscious, according to the testimony.

"Ms. Smith, over a two-day period beat her little 4-year-old daughter to death," Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami said last month. "It was a horrendous case ... And she did that in front of her sons, Christopher and Ezekiel. They have to live with that for the rest of their lives."
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Smith pleaded no contest to first-degree murder last month. The 25-to-life sentence was expected as part of her plea, which also involved the dismissal of lesser charges.

The video in the player above is from a previous report on this story.

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