San Diego parents get 15 years to life in death of starved infant daughter

SAN DIEGO (CN) — Anger and sadness were palpable in San Diego Superior Court on Wednesday during a sentencing hearing for two parents convicted of starving their 4-month-old to death as family members of the infant daughter addressed the courtroom.

Brandon Copeland and Elizabeth Ucman were each sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the death of their daughter, Delilah, who was found emaciated and unresponsive in abysmal living conditions at the couple’s City Heights apartment in 2021.

The baby, who weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces at birth in July that year, weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces when she was pronounced dead in November.

Annie Chapman, Ucman’s aunt who watched over the baby during a portion of her brief life, focused her ire on Copeland during a victim impact statement at the court hearing.

“I hope the photo of Delilah screaming with bloated belly pain haunts you in your sleep,” Chapman told Copeland, referencing photos of the baby before she died. “I hope you are haunted by the photo of her gasping for air, with her sunk-in eyes and her stomach outlined. I hope Delilah haunts you for the rest of your days.”

Copeland, 25, sat between his attorney and investigator in the courtroom on the opposite side of the court from Ucman with his eyes averted from Chapman. Ucman, 26, sat in the jury box with her attorney and an investigator.

“I can’t imagine the pain and helplessness that 3-pound body could have felt,” Chapman continued as she fought back tears. “I hope you feel the stomach pains Delilah felt. I hope the chow line starves you, like you intentionally starved your child, with food that is so disgusting you choose not to eat.”

Her statement on Wednesday was one of the hardest things she has done because of her love for Delilah and for her niece, she told the courtroom. What made the loss so much more tragic was the family’s repeated and earnest willingness to take care of the baby, she said.

“I think about the life she never got to live,” she said. “I think about the birthdays she will never celebrate. The first day of school she never experienced. The friends she never made, and the future that was stolen from her … There are moments when I see other children reaching milestones and I cannot help but wonder who Delilah would have become. I wonder what her laugh would have sounded like, what her personality would have been and what kind of young woman she might have grown into.”

Adrienne Arnett, Ucman’s grandmother, also addressed the court in a statement read by Deputy District Attorney Franciesca Balerio. Arnett described her granddaughter as a nice girl who later turned into a self-centered woman.

“It could be said that the system failed Delilah,” Arnett wrote, referring to the various attempts made by doctors and social workers who were responsible for helping them. “But who really failed were her parents.”

Ucman and Copeland were initially facing 25 years to life for first-degree murder, but the charge was lessened to 15 years to life for second-degree murder. Throughout the trial, defense attorneys argued they should instead be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Defense attorneys relied heavily on the apparent mental illnesses that Ucman and Copeland both experienced, including depression, autism and PTSD. Defense attorneys said both defendants had difficult upbringings, especially Copeland, who was reportedly abandoned by his mother and physically and sexually abused in foster care.

The prosecution relied heavily on gut-wrenching images of Delilah’s skeletal body during the trial.

In a statement read by her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Anthony Parker, Ucman acknowledged and apologized for the death of the baby.

“I wish I could change what happened, or trade my life for hers, but I can’t,” Parker read as Ucman began to weep. “I miss my daughter every single day. It kills me that my baby girl is dead and I am responsible for her death. There will never be a time in my life where I forget my actions.”

Parker, who said the case was the worst one he’s ever worked on, disagreed that Ucman’s actions were intentionally malicious, which would necessitate a murder conviction.

“She is not a monster. She is just a poor mother who struggled greatly,” he told the court. “Fifteen years to life is not a just sentence. I have represented clients who have done far worse and got far less.”

Copeland also made a statement to the court.

“Nobody knows how much this pains me and the amount of grief I have suffered and how many times I have been pulled from the brink,” said Copeland, adding that he wished he had tried harder to be a better parent or to reach out for help. “Knowing that I failed my daughter is the one thing that I will regret until the day I die. I want to say I’m sorry to everyone involved in this case, but I’m mostly sorry to Delilah.”

His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Courtney Cutter, also disputed that Copeland’s actions rose to the level of malice.

“This was not a callous disregard for Delilah’s condition,” Cutter said. “It was a failure to appreciate the situation.”

Cutter added that her client has matured and grown in positive ways in the three years she has got to know him.

“While he is challenged by his past and diagnosis, he is not a monster,” she said. “Mr. Copeland has grown in ways I would have never predicted. That is the only positive thing I can say today.”

She also noted that her client chose to stay by his partner’s side when he could have easily run off.

“What has been clear to me from the beginning is that there are two young people who didn’t have a road map, who should have accepted help and didn’t,” said Cutter, who described her client’s conviction as a travesty. “I will never accept the idea that this situation — their failure, despite their efforts — is equivalent to murder. If the law in this state says it is, then the law needs to change.”

Prior to the sentencings, Parker and Cutter moved for a new trial, arguing prosecutors misled jurors when explaining the difference between intentional malice and gross negligence — or the difference between murder and involuntary manslaughter. Cutter argued the prosecution was motivated out of spite.

The defense attorneys also asked Superior Court Judge Robert Amador to act as a “13th juror” in the case by overriding the jury’s murder conviction with the lesser offense.

Amador rejected both requests.

“There is a lot of spite and anger over the loss of a child,” Amador said. “This court cannot believe they did not recognize how severe her state was. This was a truly horrific crime.”

Parker told the court that he would appeal the rulings.

The judge recalled a jailhouse video of Ucman and Copeland shortly after their arrest as they discussed bailing out or fleeing to Mexico. In the video, neither of them discussed their daughter or what to do with her remains. To them, Delilah was like a toy, Amador said.

Copeland and Ucman, who have been in jail for more than four years, will have the next decade behind bars to think about their actions, he said.

“There is no question it was in every way a heartbreaking matter,” Amador concluded. “There are no winners in this case.”