A Canadian girl was killed and stuffed inside a hockey bag after being abused and neglected, a court heard.
Nina Napope, 8, died at the hands of Ashley Rattlesnake who chronically abused and neglected the youngster inside her west Edmonton home.
Rattlesnake, who pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter, was looking after Napope due to her father being behind bars, Global News reported.
On the night of the girl's death in April of 2023 Rattlesnake was drinking alcohol and using crystal meth.
The court heard how the youngster was found lying on the floor bleeding next to a gaping hole in the wall; it remains unclear how she sustained the fatal injury.
Rather than dial 911 and ask for help, Rattlesnake instead stuffed the child's body into the bag and left it on the rear of a truck on Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis.
She was found after being reported missing, with Rattlesnake and four others later being charged in the case after the youngster's remains were found.
In court this week Rattlesnake's sentencing hearing started, where officials lifted a publication ban previously anonymizing the name of the child and her image.
The court heard that Napope lived with Rattlesnake from September 2022 until her death from blunt force head trauma.
An autopsy ruled that the youngster had multiple broken bones and injuries, some of which had healed over by the time of her death.
Due to an untreated infected broken tooth she also had sepsis which drastically reduced her chances of survival.
Outside of the court her grandmother Starr Dumais told reporters: 'My baby Nina was so full of life. She loved to dance and sing.'
'When you go outside and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, that was Nina. My heart is shattered.'
Her aunt Charlene Dumais said: 'It breaks our heart still to tell her story, of what happened to her, but we are relieved and we are happy to finally yell Nina's name.'
The case made headlines last year after Edmonton police chief Warren Driechel issued a letter urging the Canadian courts to call off a plea deal with Rattlesnake.
Negotiations between herself and prosecutors had been ongoing at the time which would have saw her sentenced to eight years in prison.
Driechel said that a lesser sentence in the case would be an injustice given the horrifying details of the crime.
He warned that if a deal was made he would release further details about the case to let the public form their own opinion.
As such, crown prosecutor Terry Hofmann this week asked for a nine-year prison sentence; the defence recommended eight years, CTV reported.
The hearing was set to continue on Friday. The Daily Mail contacted members of Napope's family for comment.