Evil mum murders newborn baby daughter by putting her in microwave for 2 minutes - 'she was cooked'

In a case that chilled America to the core, a mother was found guilty of murdering her 28-day-old baby daughter by microwaving her for two harrowing minutes.

China Arnold, then 31, committed the gruesome act against her baby Paris following a row with her partner regarding the child's paternity, as per the prosecutors. Medical professionals were left traumatised after assessing Paris's body, which reached fatal temperatures.

"She died because she was overheated," stated Dr. Marcella Fierro, the former chief medical examiner for Virginia. "She was cooked."

The Dayton, Ohio resident escaped capital punishment but received a sentence of life imprisonment on aggravated murder charges in 2011, reported the Express US. Court-appointed psychologists determined that Arnold had average intellect and didn't exhibit symptoms of any mental disorder.

It is believed that Paris perished soon after her internal temperature hit between 107 to 109 degrees Fahrenheit. Paris was taken to the hospital by Arnold the subsequent day where her death was confirmed. Arnold's arrest came in November 2006. Despite lacking external burn wounds, hyperthermia was established as the leading cause of death by the medical examiner, indicating severe internal heat damage.

Arnold's criminal record included previous convictions. She was previously found guilty of abduction in 2000 and forgery two years later, followed by five years of probation in each instance, as Montgomery County Common Pleas Court's jail records show.

Arnold faced trial three times for the murder of her infant daughter, with each trial carrying the potential for a death sentence due to Ohio's legalisation of capital punishment since 1974. Her first trial concluded in a mistrial in February 2008 when a new witness emerged just before closing arguments. The second trial resulted in a guilty verdict and a life sentence seven months later, but this conviction was overturned by an appeals court. In May 2011, her third and final trial ended with a guilty verdict for aggravated murder and a life sentence without the possibility of parole, after the jury unanimously decided against the death penalty.

Arnold, also a mother to three boys, has been serving her sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women since September 2008.