Zahra’s stepmother admits killing her and is sentenced to up to 18 years

The stepmother of Australian girl Zahra Baker has been sentenced in a North Carolina court to up to 18 years in prison for the murder of the disabled 10-year-old.

Elisa Baker, 43, broke down as she pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree murder with aggravating factors that included desecrating Zahra's body.

She had arrived wearing a hot-pink jail jumpsuit and handcuffs and sat between two defense lawyers.

Judge Timothy Kincaid told her that she will face between 14 years, nine months, and 18 years, six months in prison, CNN reports.

Baker's plea comes almost a year after Zahra – who had her lower left leg amputated as a five-year-old after battling bone cancer in Australia – was reported missing from her home.

Zahra's biological mother, Emily Dietrich, flew in from Australia for the hearing. She broke down when she heard how her daughter was killed.

Baker had lied to police, telling them that the girl had been kidnapped but was later found to have planted a fake ransom note at their Hickory, North Carolina home in October 2010.

Zahra's body was dismembered and some of the remains were found a month later.

Baker also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, and to charges unrelated to Zahra, including obtaining property by false pretenses and financial identity fraud, AAP reports.

Adam Baker, Zahra's father and Elisa's husband, who also faces several criminal charges but not related to Zahra's death, was present in the courtroom in Newton.

Mr Baker had brought his daughter to the U.S. after meeting Elisa online.

She later told police that Zahra had been dismembered, and led them to some of the girl's remains at sites in two counties, AAP reports.

She told police that Mr Baker helped scatter the remains, but cell phone records showed he was in different locations on the relevant days.

Baker has been married seven times and had a history of abusing children, Associated Press reports.

AP reports:

Police also described three cases where witnesses saw Elisa beat Zahra. Once the child attended school with two black eyes and was afraid to go home.

It was part of a pattern in Elisa Baker life. The case revealed her as a woman with a troubled past, constantly shifting addresses and staying one step ahead of bill collectors and county social service agencies investigating reports of child abuse. The Associated Press found that she has been married seven times, including several overlapping marriages.

During those marriages, former husbands told the AP that Elisa beat her three children and that social service agencies in several counties had investigated the abuse.