US woman gets 30-year prison term for daughter's death from "eating disorders"

ATLANTA (REUTERS) - A suburban Atlanta woman was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty on Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty charges in the malnutrition death of her 16-year-old daughter.

Ebony Berry, 37, did not withhold food from her daughter, Markea, but failed to seek proper medical care for the teenager, who weighed 19.5 kg when she died in 2012, prosecutors said.

"Had (Ebony Berry) gotten the victim the help she needed, there's a chance Markea would be here today," Cobb County Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Gardner said in a statement.

According to prosecutors, the teen suffered from eating disorders and had written in her diary that she believed hunger was "a way to salvation". She had not been seen by a doctor in the three years before her death, prosecutors said.

Ebony Berry waited more an hour to call for help after finding her daughter unresponsive in the family home two years ago, according to prosecutors.

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