A Rancho Palos Verdes woman whose 2-year-old daughter died after being left in a car with the heater running was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 15 years in state prison.
Lacey Ana Mazzarella, now 35, pleaded no contest Oct. 20 to one count each of voluntary manslaughter, mayhem and child abuse resulting in death, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies called to the 22400 block of South Vermont Avenue in an unincorporated area near Torrance on Sept. 23, 2019, found the woman’s daughter, June Love Augosto, unresponsive. The toddler was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Mazzarella left her daughter in the car with the engine and heater both running, then returned to the vehicle the next morning, according to Deputy District Attorney David Zygielbaum.
Mazzarella was arrested on Oct. 2, 2019, and has remained behind bars since then.