DeKalb County mother Meriel Bemis sentenced to life for suffocating 3-year-old daughter

Authorities say a DeKalb County mom who murdered her 3-year-old daughter after breaking up with her boyfriend has been sentenced to life.

Meriel Bemis, who was 21-year-old at the time of the murder, pleaded guilty and accepted a life sentence before DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams for suffocating daughter Lela Bemis on Feb. 23, 2014.

"As a mother, I could not begin to understand how and why [Meriel] would take the life of her innocent child in such a vicious way," said Assistant District Attoey Elizabeth Dalia Racine, who served as lead prosecutor in the case. "As the prosecutor in this case, I fought for the child who no longer has a voice and for the child whose future was snatched from her by the acts of her very own mother."

Bemis, who lived at the Landmark at Mountain View Apartments in Stone Mountain, was involved in an argument with her boyfriend, Troy Walker. After Walker left the apartment, he received a communications from Bemis who confessed to murdering her daughter. Walker retued to the residence where he found Lela's lifeless body. He called 911 and attempted to administer CPR. Walker is not the father of Bemis' daughter.

Lela was pronounced dead at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. An autopsy later revealed Lela died from suffocation.

"This sentence will never bring Lela back, however, there is justice in the fact that Meriel has assumed some level of responsibility and will serve a life sentence for her malicious acts," added Racine.