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A Florida jury convicted Nioshka Bello of first-degree murder on June 6, 2012, and a judge sentenced her to life in prison for strangling her 2-year-old daughter, Janessa Sandoval, in Casselberry.

Janessa was killed in a bedroom of the Casselberry apartment where she and her mother were staying on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. Police said Bello, then 22, used her hands and a bra. A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide the following day.

Bello woke her mother early that morning to say the child was not breathing, police said. The two were living with Bello's mother and stepfather at the apartment. Emergency crews were called, and Janessa was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police said Bello swallowed as many as 20 Benadryl pills after the killing and was involuntarily committed after the suicide attempt. She was arrested on her release from the hospital on Sept. 29, 2009, and held without bail at the Seminole County Jail in Sanford.

Prosecutors said Bello had argued with the girl's father and believed she would be left homeless the next day. Court documents described her as unemployed and broke at the time. Records showed a history of mental illness dating to age 15.

Bello spent months in a state mental hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial. A judge reviewed medical reports and ruled in November 2011 that she was well enough to proceed.

The jury deliberated a few hours before returning its verdict. Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler sentenced Bello, by then 24, to life immediately afterward. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.