A woman who spiked her stepdaughter’s bottle with nail polish remover has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars, according to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.
On a May evening in 2016, 37-year-old Andrea Vazquez-Hernandez had allegedly poured nail polish remover into her stepdaughter’s bottle. The toddler’s father called the police, who said he attempted to give his daughter the milk, which she immediately spat out according to investigators.
The 17-month-old girl was taken to hospital and she was released and not seriously harmed, according to a statement released by DuPage County State’s Attorney Office. Investigators found that Vazquez-Hernandez had allegedly added one inch of nail polish remover into the toddler’s bottle.
Vazquez-Hernandez from Carol Stream, Illinois, appeared in court this morning and was found guilty of two counts of aggravated battery and one count of attempt aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a child under 13.
Berlin described the case as “very disturbing.”
“The very idea that anyone would purposely give a potentially deadly substance to an infant is shocking,” he said in a statement.
“Thankfully, the infant did not suffer any serious injury as a result of Ms. Vazquez-Hernandez’s attempts to cause her harm,” he said.
Judge Brian Telander said that Vazquez-Hernandez failed to express any remorse through the case until the sentencing, the Chicago Tribune reports. She reportedly wanted to punish the husband and the baby’s mother.
“What were you thinking, that’s what I’d like to know. What were you thinking?” Telander said.
“I am troubled … by the defendant’s lack of remorse,” he said, according to the newspaper. “I’m not so sure it’s not the situation she finds herself in. It just doesn’t seem to me that she gets it.”
“Pure evil,” the victim’s mother said when testifying.
According to ABC 7, during the case the defense said that since the toddler didn’t actually drink the nail polish remover there was no battery involved. Judge Telander dismissed this but confirmed it could be brought up on appeal.
Vazquez-Hernandez will have to serve half of her sentence before being eligible for parole.
In 2014, a teenage mother was caught on a surveillance video and accused of trying to kill her baby boy. ABC 13 reported that Cynthia Kaye Wood, 19 tried to suffocate her baby by pinching his nose and putting her hand over his mouth
Prosecutor Michele Oncken called the case “horrific.”
“Nothing makes this right,” he said.
