Three months after the incident, Patricia's lawyer approached me about a plea deal. She would plead guilty to reduced charges if I agreed to a lighter sentence.
"No," I said firmly. "She needs to face what she did to my daughter."
The district attorney backed me completely. What she did wasn't just cruel; she told me it was a hate crime against a child with a disability. We're going for the maximum penalty.
The trial came six months after that terrible day. Emma was stronger by then, though still healing. I had to testify and relive every horrible moment. When they showed the security footage in court, people gasped. One juror, a mother with young children, openly wept.
Patricia's defense was pathetic. She claimed she had found Emma wandering unsupervised and had only temporarily secured her for her own safety. The video destroyed that lie completely.
The jury took just ninety minutes to find her guilty on all counts: false imprisonment, child endangerment, and committing a hate crime against a person with a disability.
At the sentencing hearing, the judge was furious. "Mrs. Montgomery, you locked a deaf child in a cage, took away her ability to hear, and left her to suffer in the heat because you didn't like the sound of her joy," he said. "Your actions show a complete lack of humanity."