A Phoenix mother whose boyfriend kept videos of her children being physically punished on his phone was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison for the death of her 8-year-old daughter.
Chaimara Washington pleaded guilty to child abuse of Marlai Smith, who died from multiple injuries that caused internal bleeding.
Both Washington and her boyfriend, Brandon Cooper, were arrested by police in September 2020 after Washington called 911 because Marlai stopped moving.
Washington told police that Marlai had fallen. Washington said he was punishing Marlai by exercising and that Marlai hit his head on a door handle.
But there were bruises all over Marlai’s body, according to court records.
Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor Shawn Steinberg told the court at Monday’s sentencing that there was no way Marlai’s injuries could have occurred from falling or hitting a door handle once.
Steinberg told the court the injuries suggested a history of abuse.
“This girl had bruises all over her body. She also had open wounds running up and down her body,” Steinberg said.
Washington also has two younger children. The other two children said Washington punished them, Steinberg said.
“All the children, they all describe that their mother, the defendant, ‘is going to spank us, hit us and beat us up.’ Those were their words,” Steinberg said.
At the sentencing, Steinberg played a video of Washington hurting the other children.
Cooper had several videos on his phone showing the children being physically punished, according to court records.
The Arizona Department of Child Safety was called to investigate Washington’s family twice, once in 2018 and once in February 2020, according to the department’s death certificate.
Both cases revolved around allegations that the children were being given marijuana. The department closed both cases without finding evidence to support the allegations.
When Cooper and Washington were first arrested, they were charged with first-degree murder and child abuse.
The other two children were taken to their biological father’s home, according to Department of Child Safety records.
Washington and Cooper blamed each other for Marlai’s death, according to Steinberg.
“Co-defendant Cooper blames Washington, Washington blames Cooper, and honestly, the previous prosecutor who filed this plea, maybe that worried him, I don’t know. So we ended up here with no protection,” she said.
Cooper accepted a child abuse plea deal and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in March. Washington accepted his plea deal in April.
Washington spoke in court Monday, saying he was sorry for all the harm he did to his children and for what happened to Marlai.
She said that Cooper was the cause of Marlai’s death and that she was unable to protect her children because she feared him.
“I made mistakes. I admit my mistakes. I couldn’t protect them. Because I was afraid of what could have happened if I decided to go against him. This ultimately led to the loss of my first-born daughter,” she said. .
Marlai’s younger sister, now 10, wrote a letter to the court, which Steinberg read. It was short; she wrote that she remembers sitting with her sister in bed, talking about what they would name their own children.
“Funny how I said I would name my daughter after her. I miss my sister. Words can’t prove how much I miss her,” her letter read.
Contact the reporter at miguel.torres@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared in the Arizona Republic: Phoenix’s mother will serve 18 years for the death of her 8-year-old daughter
