Dying killer, 28, who murdered boyfriend’s toddler won’t be freed because she has terminal cancer

A murderer who battered her boyfriend’s three year-old daughter to death has been refused an early release from prison because she has terminal cancer.

Kayla Marie Cook, 28, was last week told she must spend the final months of her life behind bars after a parole board unanimously sided with victim Lillian Schroeder’s family.

Cook, who was jailed for life without parole in Lancaster, South Carolina, last August, pleaded for clemency just a year into her sentence over the incurable cancer in her head and neck, which doctors say will kill her in less than a year.

She first revealed her illness during her August 2019 trial over the December 2017 murder of Lillian, who was killed by a series of blows to her head and neck.

Prosecutor Randy Newman, who brought the case against Cook last summer, said after last week’s hearing: ‘We are pleased with the result that the pardon was denied.’

Newman said he will oppose any further attempts by Cook to be freed as her condition further deteriorates, according to The Herald.

Cook had attempted to exploit a loophole which states that parole should be considered for ‘any inmate afflicted with a terminal illness where life expectancy is one year or less.’

The battering that killed Lillian was so severe she died just minutes later.

Cook claimed to have found her victim unresponsive in the bathtub, and dialed 911 claiming that Lillian ‘wasn’t acting right,’ but denied knowing what had happened to the toddler.

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