By KRWG News
Las Cruces – An Alamogordo woman has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in connection with the 2009 death of her infant son.
Prosecutors say Kira Vaughns was sentenced Friday for first-degree child abuse resulting in death with criminal negligence.
She was sentenced under the New Mexico statute of a serious violent offense and will have to serve a mandatory 13 years.
Vaughns also will have to serve two years of parole after completing her prison term.
The Alamogordo Daily News says Vaughns was facing an 18-year sentence for the death of her 2-month-old son Hezekiah.
But a behavioral hospital psychologist found Vaughns suffered from both postpartum depression and bipolar disorder at the time of the baby's death on June 21, 2009.
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Information from: Alamogordo Daily News, http://www.alamogordonews.com
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.