Danieal's emaciated, bedsore-ridden body was found Aug. 4, 2006, in a filthy two-bedroom apartment in West Philadelphia that she shared with her mother and eight siblings. She weighed only 46 pounds. She was born with cerebral palsy and was first brought to DHS's attention in 2002.
"The individual actions of these defendants all came together in the nightmare" this child experienced, said Minehart, adding that the three acted with "gross indifference."
The sentencing followed testimony by a string of about 10 character witnesses on behalf of Poindexter and Kamuvaka.
But, said Minehart, "One thing I didn't hear from Kamuvaka was any remorse."
On July 15, a jury found the three guilty of all charges, ruling that each played a role that led to the child's death, although none had seen her in the weeks before she died.
Daniel Kelly was convicted of child endangerment, Poindexter of child endangerment, recklessly endangering another person and perjury, and Kamuvaka of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, reckless endangerment, perjury, criminal conspiracy and four charges involving the creation of a falsified case file to mislead investigators.
Kamuvaka is ready serving a 17 1/2 year sentence for health-care fraud in the Kelly case. The state sentence is to be served consecutively, the judge said.
Andrea Kelly, the child's mother, is serving 20 to 40 years in prison on a 2009 third-degree murder conviction in the case.
"I think the judge gave a just sentence," said Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann. "I really don't think that any jail sentence measures up to the callous indifference that the defendants exhibited in this case toward the victim."
During the hearing, McCann told the court that "this was not a tragedy. This was prolonged, callous indifference."
