Spartanburg, South Carolina: A judge sentenced a woman to 20 years in prison Friday for killing her 6-week-old daughter with what prosecutors say was an overdose of morphine delivered through her breast milk.
Stephanie Greene, 39, said nothing as the minimum sentence was handed down.
A jury found the former nurse guilty of homicide by child abuse the day before and she could have faced up to life behind bars.
Her lawyer said she will appeal and it's likely the case will be tied up for years to come.
Both the prosecutor and Greene's lawyer agree no mother has ever been prosecuted in the United States for killing her child through a substance transmitted in breast milk.
Greene's daughter Alexis was born healthy, but was found dead in her parents' bed just 46 days after she was born in November 2010.
