A Sacramento County jury convicted Kristina Huemann Siedlecki of second-degree murder in her infant daughter's death

A second-degree murder verdict is the jury's finding of guilt. It is not the prison term. Kristina Huemann Siedlecki faces a maximum of 15 years to life, with sentencing set for Oct. 23, 2026, before Judge Alyson Lewis, and the father, who was also charged, has since died without a verdict in his case.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said on Oct. 5, 2026, that a jury convicted Kristina Huemann Siedlecki on Oct. 1 of second-degree murder in the death of her 8-month-old daughter. The office identified the case as 24FE020329 and named Deputy District Attorney Dinah Mielke of the homicide unit as the prosecutor. KCRA also reported the Thursday jury conviction and the same maximum exposure. The office said she faces a maximum of 15 years to life, with sentencing set for 9 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2026, in Department 15C before Judge Alyson Lewis. A conviction sets guilt. It does not impose the term.

The district attorney's office said the child's father put her in a bath of dangerously hot water and caused severe burns over more than 30 percent of her body. When Siedlecki got home, the office said, the infant was still in the tub, and Siedlecki saw the skin redden, then peel and blister, with burns from the mid-back down the backs of the legs. Neither parent sought medical care in the days that followed, the office said, and the child died of complications from those burns. KCRA, citing detectives, reported that the infant was found unresponsive and died on Aug. 25, 2024. That is the prosecution's account of the evidence the jury heard. The guilty verdict is the finding on second-degree murder.

The office said internet searches on Siedlecki's phone showed she understood the danger of leaving the burns untreated and that she avoided help because she feared arrest. On the morning the child died, the office said, Siedlecki noticed the breathing change and that the infant became limp and then unresponsive, and she went on social media instead of calling 911 while the father contacted a friend nearly 45 minutes later. The office said the father was also charged and has since died. KCRA identified him as Hussein Abughazaleh and reported that he had been arrested and accused of murder. A charge that ended with his death is not a conviction, and it is not Siedlecki's sentence. The jury's second-degree murder verdict is the court's finding on her case. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.