Plea For Woman Accused In Death Of Monument Girl

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - A plea deal has been reached for a woman accused in the death of a girl who was found under a Monument home last year.

Monique Lynch, 30,  had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 9-year-old Genesis Sims, but The Gazette reports a judge approved a deal Monday for her to plead guilty to child abuse causing death. She could face 10 to 32 years in prison at a sentencing hearing June 30.

Contractors digging a pit found Genesis' body under a home in El Paso County where her father, Hanif Zarif Sims, had lived with Lynch in 2008.

Hanif Sims and Lynch had blamed each other for the death. He is set to go on trial May 31 on a charge of felony child abuse.

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