Woman cleared in baby death gets 6-8 years for other charges

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman who lived in a squalid home where authorities found the remains of three babies has been sentenced to six to eight years behind bars for assault and animal cruelty convictions.

Erika Murray was sentenced Thursday. She’ll receive credit for the nearly five years she has already served.

Murray was cleared of second-degree murder last month. The judge said prosecutors failed to prove she caused the death of one of the babies she had been charged with killing.

Murray was found guilty of assault and battery on a child and animal cruelty.

She was arrested in 2014 after the babies’ bodies were discovered inside closets of her filthy home in Blackstone. Four living children were removed from the home.

Murray’s lawyer says she has mental illness.