Woman sentenced to life in prison in death of stepdaughter

A former Las Vegas woman was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for fatally abusing her 5-year-old stepdaughter in 2001.

Senior District Judge Joseph Bonaventure imposed the sentence, which includes the possibility of parole after 20 years.

Martha Flores, now 31, received the same penalty from Bonaventure in 2002, but the Nevada Supreme Court granted her a new trial after finding that prosecutors had used inadmissible hearsay to support their case.

After a second trial earlier this year, Flores again was convicted of first-degree murder by child abuse for killing her stepdaughter, Zoraida. The girl died from a head wound.

Flores already has served more than six years of her sentence. Her attorney, Al Lasso, said she plans to appeal her latest conviction.