Suspect in Gadsden Murder sentenced to time served

Tonya Cate

A Gadsden  woman charged with capital murder in the 2003 death of her 16 month old adopted daughter is being released after pleading guilty Tuesday to manslaughter. 39 year old Tonya Cate received a sentence of 20 years, but will be released with time served, she has been in jail since March 2005 and spent just under nine years in police custody. She also will serve 24 months of unsupervised probation.

Cate was charged with capital murder for the 2003 death of her 16-month-old adopted daughter, Serena Cate. The girl was brought into Gadsden Regional Medical Center on Sept. 26, 2003, then airlifted to Children's Hospital in Birmingham, where she died three days later. An autopsy revealed the child died from blunt-force trauma to the head.

Cate's attorney, Roy McCord, said the case was settled because he sat down with District Attorney Jimmie Harp and they went over the strengths and weaknesses of their cases and determined this was the best course of action. He emphasized that Cate made a best interest plea, which means she was not admitting guilt, but was stating it was in her best interest to plead guilty.