The mother of a 10-month-old girl who died after being left in a hot car outside a Jennings fast food restaurant has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Hannah Faith Cormier, 34, of Jennings will serve the sentence without probation or parole, according to District Judge Steve Gunnell. In sentencing Cormier, Gunnell stated her actions resulted in the death of a child who depended on her for care.

“In this instance you completely failed your daughter and damages are permanent,” he said.

Cormier pleaded no contest last July to negligent homicide. She was initially arrested in August 2024 for second-degree murder and cruelty to a juvenile, but a grand jury later indicted her on the lesser charge.

During a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Torrie Thibodeaux said had the case gone to trial, evidence would have shown inconsistencies in Cormier’s statements regarding phone calls and texts with a babysitter on the day of the incident, casting doubt on the defendant. Additionally, she said the evidence would have shown Cormier left the child alone in a hot vehicle for nearly two hours after being called into work.

“She left the child in the vehicle for 90 minutes in August when the temperature was 95-degrees outside,” Thibodeaux said, noting the child’s body temperature was 190 after she was taken to the hospital.

Thibodeaux requested a sentence of 5 to 10 years without probation or parole due to the victim’s age.

Defense attorney Bill Riley described Cormier as a church-goer who served as lay minister in her church who loved children.

“She loved her children and deals with other children on a daily basis which she hasn’t been able to do since the incident,” Riley said.

He said there was a “huge amount of confusion” on the day of the incident. He said Cormier had been sick, had been to the doctor that day and was not expecting to work that day.

“To me it was a perfect storm of bad things happening,” he said. “She didn’t intend for this to happen and has suffered greatly.”

He said Cormier has been undergoing parenting and mental health counseling, and has regained custody of her other four children under supervision.

Riley requested a two-year sentence, without benefit of probation or parole, asserting the incident was out of character. He said he has known Cormier for years and, “this is not her nature. She lives for her children.”

Riley also asked the court to disregard allegations from the child’s father regarding a prior incident in which he claimed Cormier tried to smother one of her children. He said the father, who now lives in Texas, had surrendered his parental rights to avoid child support.

Following her arrest, Cormier told police she accidentally left the child in the back seat after being called into work and did not realize it until after finishing her shift. She took the unresponsive child to a nearby hospital, where the child was stabilized before being transported to another facility in critical condition. The baby died two days later from what the coroner attributes to heat stroke.

The case was investigated by Office Richard Easley, Dustin Broussard and Richard Geiger with the Jennings Police Department.