Port Huron parents will spend rest of lives in prison for 5-year-old daughter's murder

Andrew, Hilery Maison convicted of murder, torture, child abuse

PORT HURON, Mich. – A Michigan couple convicted of abusing, torturing and starving their 5-year-old daughter will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

A jury in St. Clair County found Andrew and Hilery Maison guilty of murder, torture and child abuse after a six-day trial.

The two were expressionless Thursday morning morning when a judge sentenced them to life in prison without parole.

Andrew Maison's daughter, Mackenzie, was unresponsive on May 27, 2015, when an emergency crew was called to a home in Port Huron.

Stepmother Hilery Maison told a 911 dispatcher that Mackenzie wasn't responding.

"I just gave her a bath and she's not even, she's not even coherent, it doesn't even look like she's breathing right now," she said. "The last couple days or so our, my husband and I, our 5-year-old has been rebelling against food."

Hilery Maison told the dispatcher that the girl wasn't breathing.

"My husband's right next to her and is trying to do CPR on her, but ..." Hilery Maison said.

Read: 911 calls raise questions in 5-year-old's death

Medical experts said Mackenzie was malnourished, had pneumonia and weighed only 25 pounds. She also had bruises all over her body and a severe infection in her genital area.

She would have turned 6 on March 3.

Three other children, all under the age of 11, were removed from the home after Mackenzie's death. Mackenzie's then-3-year-old sister, Makayla, was also treated for malnourishment.

The biological mother of Mackenzie and Makayla, Shelby Coffee, lost custody of them to their father in 2013. She spoke at the Maisons' sentencing, saying her girls "never had a chance."

Defense attorney Michael Boucher told jurors that there was no evidence that the couple intended for Mackenzie to die.