New Jersey woman sentenced to 45 years for starving daughter to death

IRVINGTON, New Jersey -- A New Jersey woman convicted of starving her 8-year-old daughter to death has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Krisla Rezireksyon Kris, 34, of Irvington was found guilty in March of aggravated manslaughter for starving her daughter Christiana Glenn to death in May of 2011.

She was also convicted of numerous counts of endangering the welfare of her two other children who were beaten and denied food. Those children, a 6-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl at the time, survived.

Kris read a statement in court, and the judge read an impact statement from the surviving daughter who said she hopes her "birth mother" will never see the light of day.

Kris was charged after Christiana was found dead in the family's Chancellor Avenue apartment in Irvington on May 22, 2011. The cause of death was starvation and an untreated broken femur - the large bone in the thigh.

She was acquitted of murder, the most serious charge, but found guilty of the less serious homicide charge of aggravated manslaughter.

In addition to aggravated manslaughter, Kris, whose birth name was Venette Ovilde, was found guilty of 16 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of aggravated assault.

She was charged with endangering because she withheld food from all three children, physically assaulted them, tied them to a radiator, forced them to kneel on salt with heavy objects on their heads, withheld medical care and left them home alone for extended periods of time.

Kris made a tearful plea in court for mercy, saying she was influenced by her religion while raising her three kids, all in hopes the judge would not give her the maximum jail time of 50 years.

"From the time my children were born I became a devoted single mother," she said. "My children are everything to me and I love them very much. I was focused on working towards providing a good life for them."

While judge Michael Ravin did note her remorse, he said Kris never took responsibility for the death of her daughter and the abuse, starvation, torture or health of all three of her children.

The judge rehashed many of the ugly, horrifying, grotesque facts which came to light during the trial.

The mother told investigators she prayed over the child's body 90 minutes before calling 911.