'I was a good mamma' - Elisa Baker convicted for killing her Australian step-daughter Zahra Baker in North Carolina in 2010
Zahra 'had beaten cancer twice'
Elisa Baker, 47, pleaded guilty to killing her step-daughter Zahra in 2010
Zahra Baker, 10, was murdered and dismembered in North Carolina
Elisa now says she was rushed into signing a plea deal for the murder
She said she keeps pictures of Zahra in her prison cell
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Elisa (pictured) pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2011 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison
A woman who murdered and dismembered her 10-year-old stepdaughter is appealing her conviction, arguing that she was 'a good mamma.'
Elisa Baker, 47, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2011 in North Carolina and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing her Australian stepdaughter Zahra Baker.
She now claims that she was rushed into signing the plea deal and is refusing to take responsibility for the gruesome murder of Zahra, according to The Daily Telegraph.
She now claims that she was rushed into signing the plea deal and is refusing to take responsibility for the gruesome murder of Zahra (pictured)
Baker said in a recent jailhouse interview that she keeps pictures of Zahra, who had survived cancer twice, in her prison cell, the Daily Telegraph reported.
'Why would she haunt me? I was a good mamma,' she said.
Although the time period for an appeal has expired, Elisa is attempting to build an appeal case anyway – which, if granted, would be rare but not entirely impossible.
The plea agreement signed by Elisa Baker for the murder of Zahra.
The plea agreement signed by Elisa Baker for the murder of Zahra.
The plea agreement signed by Elisa Baker for the murder of Zahra.
The plea agreement signed by Elisa Baker for the murder of Zahra.
Elisa said in a recent jailhouse interview that she keeps pictures of Zahra (pictured) in her prison cell
'Why would she haunt me? I was a good mamma,' Elisa (pictured) said of keeping the images in her cell
Zahra was living in Wagga Wagga, NSW, with her father, Adam Baker, before they moved to the United States after Mr Baker met Elisa online.
Mr Baker and Elisa married once they immigrated but within two years Zahra was dead after being abused and tortured by her stepmother, police said.
Zahra, who had lost a leg and her hearing to bone cancer, was killed and her remains were scattered across two counties in North Carolina, reports said.Photo : APElisa Baker, 47, who pleaded guilty to killing her Australian step-daughter Zahra Baker (pictured) in North Carolina in 2010, is trying to appeal her conviction
Zahra was living in Wagga Wagga, NSW, with her father, Adam Baker, (pictured) before they moved to the United States after Mr Baker met Elisa online
Elisa's attorney Scott Reilly said the evidence against his client was 'overwhelming' and he believes that if the case is appealed and brought to trial that she could be sentenced to life in prison.
Zahra's ashes were sent back to Australia in 2013 and scattered into the ocean at Nobbys Beach in Newcastle – decision that was made without informing her mother, Emily Dietrich, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Baker, who was deported back to Australia in 2012 after allegedly committing several crimes and now lives in western Sydney, didn't tell Ms Dietrich about the whereabouts of their daughter's remains, the report said.
Zahra's ashes were sent back to Australia in 2013 and scattered into the ocean at Nobbys Beach in Newcastle – decision that was made without informing her mother, Emily Dietrich (pictured right), according to reports
Part of a memorial shrine set up after Zahra disappeared in 2010.
Part of a memorial shrine set up after Zahra disappeared in 2010.
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