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PHOENIX — A Bullhead City woman has been sentenced to nearly three years for trying to drown her infant daughter in Lake Mead.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for Arizona says 33-year-old Justine Renee Kirklen received a 30-month sentence in federal court Monday.

She will also be under supervised release for three years.

The sentence comes after Kirklen pleaded guilty to child abuse.

Kirklen admitted trying to submerge her 5-week old daughter in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in June 2018.

According to court records, witnesses spotted Kirklen walking near the lake nude while carrying her baby. A bystander followed her when she waded into deepening water. He was able to remove the baby from her grasp.

National Park Service rangers and Bullhead City police transported them both to a hospital.


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