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Tania Coleman - Guilty Of Starving Her Infant Daughter To Death
March 23, 2012
District Attorney Jack Daneri and Chief Deputy Elizabeth Hirz successfully proved to an Erie County jury that Tania Coleman intentionally starved her 14-month old daughter to death.
The jury deliberated the evidence for about three hours Thursday before convicting her of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Tania Coleman also will be sentenced on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child and misdemeanor counts of abuse of a corpse, concealing the death of a child, and tampering with evidence.
The case began May 24, when Erie firefighters who were responding to a kitchen fire found Alayja's decaying body in a suitcase that was lying along the street in the 700 block of East Eighth Street.
Tania Coleman and Xavier Hollamon, the father of Coleman's other two daughters, were seen buying a trash can at Walmart on April 25. The suitcase with Alayja's body in it was stored in that trash can until just before May 24, when someone dumped the suitcase into the street and stole the trash can.
Hollamon pleaded guilty earlier this month to two misdemeanor counts related to the disposal of the toddler's body. As part of a plea agreement, he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution.
