Death sentence upheld in death of AZ girl locked in box

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - The Arizona Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction and death sentence handed down to a woman who left a young girl to die in a box.

In the latest court decision, the justices rejected Sammantha Allen’s claims that prosecutors had improperly suggested she was the person who killed ame deal and that Allen’s husband - John Allen - was solely responsible for punishing the child.

According to reports, Ame was ordered to get into the box because she had stolen an ice pop. Allen and her husband then fell asleep and discovered the next morning that the child had died.

The 10-year-old’s death was the cruel culmination of a history of abuse that a handful of relatives heaped on her at the home they shared in Phoenix.

Upon the decision to put both Allen's on death row, the rest of her family from aunts to biological parents, have all been sent to prison for child abuse, as well.