Prosecutors say a New York City woman has pleading guilty to setting fire to her young daughter during a voodoo ritual by pouring flammable liquid on the child's head and igniting it, leaving the girl with permanent scars across her body. Marie Lauradin (lah-hahr-DAHN') pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree assault to pouring the liquid on her then-6-year-old daughter at her Queens home in 2009.
Prosecutors say the judge indicated he would sentence her to 17 years in prison. She also faces possible deportation back to her native Haiti.
Defense attorney Jeff Cohen says his client admitted that her actions were reckless, but would not comment on her motives.
Prosecutors say Lauradin poured the accelerant on her daughter's head and in a circle on the floor at her home as part of a voodoo practice involving a "loa," or spirit.