Shekinah Akbar, a Georgia mother who beat her 5-year-old daughter to death after claiming that she had “evil spirits,” is now sentenced to life in prison.

Akbar received her sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty but mentally ill to felony murder and cruelty to children, RollingOut reports.

After beating her five-year-old daughter to death on Feb. 10, 2020, Akbar called 911 and blamed the crime on her neighbors, the district attorney’s office stated in a press release.  Akbar, according to the statement, said her neighbors tortured her and her daughter and then locked them in the bathroom for hours.

The 33-year-old mother told 911 that her daughter was no longer alive, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Firefighters arrived at the scene and found the child unresponsive in the bedroom with her tracheotomy tube removed.

When speaking to investigators, Akbar said her daughter, who  had a medical condition that required a tracheotomy tube, also had “evil spirits.” The Georgia woman said she was performing an exorcism on the child to cast out evil spirits.

The 5-year-old, who was pronounced dead at the hospital, had visible injuries and bruising over her entire body, Akbar’s arrest warrant stated.

The report also revealed that the girl had injuries on her neck that resembled strangulation, as well as bite marks on her face, ear, chest, arms, legs and hands.

“This beautiful little girl was brutally tortured, bitten and abused for upwards of 12 hours by the one person in the world who is supposed to love her unconditionally and protect her at all costs,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Green said during the plea hearing according to the AJC. “It is unfathomable the betrayal she must’ve felt.”

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