'You have that right to hate me,' Mitchell woman says to family of 5-year-old boy she killed

Feb. 2—"I'd like to say to the family and friends of Mateo, and Mateo, that I am sorry. That word means nothing to you, I know."

Those were the opening remarks that Julia Carter made Tuesday to the family and friends of the late 5-year-old boy who Carter killed on June 23, 2020, by stomping on his abdomen. She received a 22-year prison sentence for the first-degree manslaughter while mentally ill charge she recently pleaded guilty to in connection to the death of the young boy.

Carter, 23, of Mitchell, was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 18 years suspended for the first-degree manslaughter while mentally ill. She addressed the family before her sentence.

"As a mother, if I was going through what you were going through, I'd feel the same way. You have that right to hate me," an emotional Carter said to the family of the 5-year-old victim at Tuesday's sentencing hearing. "I am truly sorry, and nothing I can do can bring him back."

An autopsy revealed the boy died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen area of his body. According to an arrest affidavit, Carter admitted during an interview with investigators to kicking the boy in the stomach five times and stomping him in the abdomen once.

Addressing the victim's mother during Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Carter said "you have the divine right to hate me and feel the way you do."

For Carter's sentence, Judge Chris Giles followed the terms and conditions of the plea agreement that Carter recently struck with Davison County State's Attorney Jim Miskimins, the lead prosecutor in the case.

While Carter maintained her not guilty plea throughout the

past two years since she was arrested for killing the boy, she recently changed course on Dec. 13

by pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter while mentally ill.

In South Dakota, first-degree manslaughter carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. However, Brooke Laufer, a clinical psychologist based out of Evanston, Illinois, recently evaluated Carter and diagnosed her with bipolar, post-traumatic stress and post traumatic depression disorders. That appeared to have played a role in the terms outlined in the plea agreement since it asked the court to give Carter a sentence of 40 years in prison with 18 years suspended for the manslaughter charge while mentally ill.

With Carter's diagnosis of bipolar and depression, Laufer said during the Dec. 13 hearing that Carter was impaired while she was stomping and kicking the boy. It wasn't until after kicking the victim that Laufer said Carter knew she had done something wrong.

"At the moment of the offense, she was not aware of right and wrong until after it happened," Laufer said of Carter's mental state at the time she killed the boy.

Carter's attorney, Chris Nipe, noted the plea agreement had "concessions" from all parties involved in the case.

Prior to Judge Giles handing down the sentence, Miskimins expressed his sympathies for the family and friends of the victim. He called the plea agreement a "significant sacrifice" for the state and family of the child.

"This has not been a day that any of us have looked forward to. Mateo is gone. Nothing that can be said or done here today changes that fact," Miskimins said. "It pains me to be here under these circumstances. The agreed-upon disposition here is a significant sacrifice on the part of the state and the family of Mateo and other victims in this matter, as well as the defendant."

Carter will serve her prison sentence in the state women's prison in Pierre. She received credit for serving over 500 days in jail. She's been in custody at the Davison County jail since her arrest following her role in the death of the victim.