An Ohio jury has convicted China Arnold for life, following her third trial over the murder of her infant daughter.

Arnold is alleged to have murdered her 28 day old daughter Paris in August 2005, after a drunken argument with her live-in partner about Paris’ paternity. Coroners estimated that Paris had been ‘cooked’ in the microwave for at least two minutes, which caused her internal organs to reach critical temperatures. Arnold did take Paris to a hospital the next day, but the infant was declared dead.

Arnold was initially arrested for the murder, but was released shortly afterwards due to lack of evidence. She was rearrested in 2006, and stood her first trial for the murder.

Arnold’s boyfriend, Talley, had an older son from a previous relationship. During the first trial, Talley’s son claimed he had taken Paris out of the microwave, after seeing a ‘neighbourhood boy’ putting her in there. The claim led to the trial ending as a mistrial.

During the second trial, it was established that Talley’s son had not been in the neighbourhood on the day in question, and could not have seen Paris’ death. The BBC reported that one of Arnold’s cellmates also testified to say Arnold had admitted to putting Paris in the microwave and turning it on, fearing her boyfriend would leave her if he found out he was not Paris’ biological father. The defence claimed Arnold’s cellmate was lying, and someone else was responsible for Paris’ murder. Arnold was convicted of aggravated murder.

The Second District Court of Appeals reversed this conviction in September 2010, after Arnold protested that the court had not allowed material witnesses to stand in her defence. They also cited misconduct by prosecutors.

In May 2011, Arnold was re-tried for the third time. She was again convicted of aggravated murder, despite her defence claiming there was just as much evidence suggesting Talley was the murderer. Arnold was sent to the Ohio Reformatory for Women.

On 20th May 2011, Arnold was finally sentenced to life in prison without parole. She is expected to appeal this decision.