Leavenworth mother sentenced in death of 1-year-old daughter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 24-year-old mother was sentenced Wednesday in Leavenworth County District Court for the death of her 1-year-old daughter back in 2023.

Liberti N. Figueroa was convicted in August of two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child after her infant daughter, Saraphina Avarose Sanchez, died from head-related injuries. The jury acquitted her of involuntary manslaughter during the two-day trial.

During a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Figueroa was sentenced to six months in prison on each charge, for a total of 12 months. The judge suspended the sentence and placed Figueroa—who had already served 170 days in the Leavenworth County Jail—on probation.

Court records state that on the evening of Oct. 18, 2023, officers were called to the Woodland Village Apartments after it was reported that a 1-year-old girl who was not breathing.

The girl was taken to a hospital for multiple injuries and died later that night, police said.

Just a day later, FOX4 talked to Figueroa, who placed the blame on her husband.

“He says, ‘Oh no! Your son dropped her out of a crib.’ My son is four! Four! My daughter has been bleeding like that, and he’s four. He wouldn’t do that to her,” Figueroa told FOX4 on Oct. 19, 2023.

Court records say Figueroa had left for work the morning of Oct. 18, 2023, at about 9 a.m. She had asked her then-boyfriend to watch her baby, as well as her other child.

According to investigators, Figueroa described her boyfriend as not being a very responsible person, and that, before she left for work, the baby had been sick and sleeping.

Figueroa returned to the apartment at about 1 p.m., but court records say she didn’t check on her baby until 4 p.m.

She told investigators her friends had come over to smoke marijuana inside the apartment. Further investigations revealed she had even left the home at some point to buy marijuana before returning.

After several hours of believing her daughter was asleep, she eventually asked her boyfriend to check on the baby, she told FOX4 in a 2023 interview. By the time she saw her daughter, she said it was apparent the child had been badly injured.

At about 5:30 p.m., police were called to the scene. The child was then taken to a hospital, where she later died.

Autopsy results confirmed the little girl had died from head trauma that caused internal bleeding.

Even though Figueroa was not directly involved in inflicting the injuries to her daughter, prosecutors argued that she acted recklessly by allowing her child to be placed in a situation where her life, body or health was endangered, resulting in death.

According to prosecutors, this case also led her to be charged in February 2025 with an additional aggravated endangerment of a child charge for a separate incident in September 2023.

On Sept. 20, 2023, prosecutors said Figueroa had been in an upstairs bedroom of her apartment when her 1-year-old daughter suffered burn injuries. This was less than a month before her daughter died from the head injuries.

Figueroa told investigators the burns occurred when an ashtray tipped over and fell onto the baby, who had been lying on the bed.