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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - A woman accused in the 2021 killing of her daughter, Nevaeh Allen, was back in court on Thursday, Oct. 16.
Lanaya Cardwell denied a plea deal where prosecutors offered to charge her with cruelty to juveniles. She would have faced a maximum of 10 years in jail.
She is charged with second-degree murder.
In court, Judge Fred Crifasi gave Cardwell the opportunity to review the plea deal and discuss it with her lawyer, Jarvis Claiborne, along with her three family members who were in attendance.
Prosecutors said they could not ignore that there was evidence that Cardwell had punched Nevaeh Allen in the stomach. A report by a juvenile witness, corresponding injuries during autopsy, and a corroborating statement from Cardwell saying she had ‘popped’ Nevaeh after the toddler messed with her contact lenses.
https://www.wafb.com/2025/10/16/nevaeh- ... osecutors/