Before the sentencing, a family member and friend of Partin’s spoke on her behalf. They said they believe she is innocent, and Partin’s attorney, Melynda Cook Howard, said she plans to appeal. She asked the judge for a minimum sentence, even though the sentencing guidelines were strict in this case.
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"Lindsay stood next to me as I got married," said friend Andrea Corry, who added she believed Partin was not capable of the crime.
Hannah’s mother, Adrian, read a statement before sentencing.
"My brave daughter .... gone and I will always miss Hannah Jade with every fiber of my being," she said.
Hannah’s uncle and father also spoke to the judge.
“I hope and pray every single day that you get the same treatment in jail that you showed to my daughter,” said Hannah’s father, Jason.
Some wore shirts in the courtroom that read “GOD’S Angel” above “FOREVER3.”
Partin faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years for the murder charge. She could also have been sentenced to an additional three years for the child endangering charges.
Overall, Partin could have been sentenced by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Stephens to a maximum of life in prison with parole eligibility after 18 years.
Partin, 36, was charged after Hannah Wesche collapsed at her Shank Road residence on March 8, 2018.
During seven days full days of testimony the jury heard Partin’s confession to slapping and hitting the toddler in the days leading up to March 8, then shaking her on that day. However, Partin later said in testimony that she felt pressured to make those admissions to investigators.
Partin also said the 3-year-old had a couple of falls that caused the bruising observed by the doctors, coroner and EMTs.
Dueling doctors gave testimony about how long the child could have been walking, talking and acting normally after the fatal head injury. Doctors who treated and observed Hannah at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital said she would not have been able to function within seconds or minutes.
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