A Phoenix mother has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder in her young daughter's death.
Natalie Russell originally was charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in the April 2016 death of her daughter, Adalynn, who was nearly two years old.
She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December 2017.
Autopsy results showed the girl had toxic levels of methadone and methamphetamines in her system at the time of her death, which was ruled a homicide.
Police say Russell "recklessly left a 120 mg bottle of liquid methadone in reach of her children" and Adalynn drank some of the drug used to prevent withdrawal symptoms in those addicted to opiates.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview with ABC15 in August 2016, Russell blamed herself for the incident, saying she was "heartbroken."
