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The Santa Monica Mom accused of brutally murdering her 15-month-old daughter with a frying pan pleaded not guilty to the crime in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday.
Carmen Anita Degregg, 24, appeared dazed as she sat in court with wearing a yellow inmate jumpsuit, shackles and frizzy shoulder-length hair.
When the judge asked how she pleaded on a charge of murder and felony assault of a child under 8 causing death, her public defender quickly jumped in.
“We enter a not guilty plea,” said attorney Ivonne De La Cruz.
The only word Degregg spoke was a “Yes” when asked if she was OK with her preliminary hearing date being set for April 23.
The mother, who was once a star high-school wrestler, is accused of killing her baby on January 6 inside her ritzy Santa Monica apartment complex, where studio apartments start at $3,200 per month and larger units cost as much as $6,000.
Degregg was arrested under bizarre circumstances, after she approached cops on the UCLA campus Tuesday and told them she had hurt her child and that the infant was in the apartment, according to Santa Monica Police.
Cops found the toddler gravely wounded and and she was pronounced dead after being rushed to a local hospital.
Before the not guilty plea, De La Cruz had argued that her client not be photographed in court, saying the images could taint a possible jury pool. The judge denied the request and kept her bail at $2 million.
If convicted of the current charges, Degregg faces 25 years to life in prison.
“When a parent is accused of causing a child’s death, our office has a duty to act decisively and to seek the maximum accountability permitted by law,” LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman said after her arrest.
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