A Douglas County woman whose 3-year-old daughter died after she kept her children in the woods for nearly 12 hours on a rainy January night was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Uriha Ridge, 36, pleaded guilty to multiple counts, including felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children, according to Channel 2. Ridge was high on cocaine and marijuana while her daughter, Alina, died of exposure and hypothermia, prosecutors said in courtroom footage captured by Channel 2.
“The word ‘tragedy’ is not strong enough to describe what occurred on that day,” Douglas Superior Court Judge Deah Warren said as she handed down Ridge’s sentence.
Ridge’s life sentence will include the possibility of parole, the news station reported.
Ridge’s attorney, Alison Frutoz, said her client was suffering from addiction and other severe mental health issues when she took her children into the woods.
The incident began around midnight Jan. 19 when Ridge booked a room at Foxhall Resort in Douglasville, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
According to Channel 2′s courtroom footage, prosecutors said Ridge had a rideshare driver drop her off in a wooded area on the resort property with her daughter Alina and her 7-year-old son, Elijah. It was raining that night and the temperature dropped as low as 25 degrees. Foxhall’s property spans more than 1,000 acres of mostly wilderness, according to its website.
Prosecutors said in video from the courtroom that the rideshare driver witnessed Ridge licking a white powder off of the car’s back seat before she got out with the children.
According Channel 2, prosecutors said Elijah told his mother that he and his sister were cold, but Ridge told them to be quiet. Elijah told investigators he tried to warm his sister up by covering her with leaves, the news station reported.
Ridge had a charged cellphone with her throughout the ordeal but did not call for help until well after sunrise that morning, the AJC reported. Her first call was to the resort, and the workers who found Ridge and her children called 911.
Ridge was previously arrested on child cruelty charges after she slapped one of her children at a bowling alley in Douglasville, court documents showed. She was released on bond that included the conditions that she abstain from alcohol and attend a therapy program for alcohol. But her bond was revoked after she was charged with drunken driving in Cobb County.
Ridge’s attorney said her client chose to plead guilty to felony murder because of her extreme remorse, Channel 2 reported.
According to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, offenders sentenced to life for felony murder must serve 30 years before they become eligible for parole consideration.
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