26-year-old Melissa Mitin will spend at least the next twenty-seven and a half years in prison for killing her infant daughter in December 2013.
Before Judge Jamo sentenced Mitin on Wednesday, he asked if she had anything to say.
Holding back tears, she responded, "Just that I'm very, very sorry for everything. And, thank you for your time."
Twenty-seven and a half years was the minimum sentence the Prosecution and Mitin's Defense Attorney, Frank Reynolds, agreed on after she admitted to suffocating both of her newborns. The second happened in December 2014.
As a result of the deal, the child abuse and first degree murder charges were dropped.
"Our goal here is that she could not have another child. Twenty-seven and-a-half years will ensure that she's not gonna be able to do this to another baby. And, you know, we didn't just pick the number out of nowhere. It was a very difficult decision," explained Ingham County Chief Assistant Prosecutor, Lisa McCormick.
She told Fox 47 News that as a mother, this case was hard to handle.
"The conduct here, these two innocent lives, a mother is supposed to protect her children," she said. "Smothering those children was an intentional act and it's unacceptable in this society."
Mitin's Attorney agreed with Judge Jamo's ruling.
"We had another case potentially and this would put an end to it. And also, if she had been convicted of first degree murder, it would've been natural life, life without the possibility of parole," he explained.
Instead, only 27 and-a-half years for Mitin, who Reynolds said continues to struggle with her actions.
"It's a very tough situation for her. But, on the other hand, I think there's some pressure off because they got some closure to the case," he said.
The remains of Mitin's second baby have not been found and Prosecutors don't think they will be.
The father of the first child no longer lives in the country. Prosecutors believe he's also the father of the second child, but that hasn't been confirmed.
And, they added, he cooperated with the case and they're confident he was not involved in the murder of the baby.
