The stepmother of Zahra Baker pleaded guilty to second degree murder in the death and dismemberment of the disabled North Carolina girl.
Elisa Baker, 43, could be sentenced to 18 years in prison. Before reaching a plea deal, she could have faced 30 years in prison. Baker also pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and bigamy.
Baker was charged with the girl's murder in February. Zahra, who was 10, had a prosthetic leg and a hearing aid as a result of a bout with bone cancer. The leg was found on Oct. 27. Some of her dismembered remains were later found.
A Hickory, N.C., police officer testified that investigators never recovered Zahra's head, hands and parts of her arms and legs. He said that what was recovered of the child's remains would have been impossible without the help of Elisa Baker.
The little girl's death was ruled an "undetermined homicidal violence," but authorities have said how the girl was killed or why she was killed.
Elisa Baker, however, did state when the child died. During testimony, she said that she found the Zahra unresponsive on Sept. 24, 2010, although she wasn't reported missing until Oct. 9. She testified that she tried to perform CPR and then called Adam Baker, the Hickory Daily Record reported.
Adam baker reportedly shook his head and swore when Elisa Baker made these claims, the Hickory Daily Record reported.
The gir's father said he didn't realize that his daughter was dead because he returned home from work late and left early, and would be told by his wife that Zahra was in bed. Adam Baker said he would look in at his girl's dark bedroom and would see something in her bed that he assumed was Zahra.
Elisa Baker has long claimed that her husband played a role in hiding Zahra's body. Adam Baker, orginally from Australia, met Elisa Baker online. He moved to the United States with his daughter and the two married.
Relatives and neighbors said that Elisa Baker was abusive to Zahra, who was often bruised.
When the girl was first reported missing, the couple claimed that she was kidnapped. Elisa Baker was later arrested for forging a ransom note. In jailhouse letters she wrote that, her husband did something "horrifying" to Zahra after she was dead.
Adam Baker has denied any involvement. He faces criminal charges of his own, but none relating to Zahra's death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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