Krisla Rezireksyon, 34, of Irvington, has turned down a plea offer that included a 24-year prison sentence in the May 2011 death of her 8-year-old daughter, Christiana Glenn
NEWARK -- With jury selection set to begin this week in her murder trial, an Irvington woman on Monday rejected a plea deal on charges of killing her 8-year-old daughter and abusing and neglecting her two younger children.
Krisla Rezireksyon indicated through her attorney during a hearing that she turned down a plea offer in which prosecutors would recommend a 24-year prison sentence. Under that agreement, Rezireksyon would have to serve slightly more than 20 years before becoming eligible for parole.
"At this point, we're ready to proceed to go to trial," Rezireksyon's attorney, Adrien Moncur, told Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin during Monday's hearing.
Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Simonetti, who is handling the case, said in court on Wednesday that she had proposed a plea offer to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray that included a 17-year prison sentence with nearly 15 years of parole ineligibility. Moncur indicated Rezireksyon was interested in such an agreement.
But Murray ultimately did not sign off on that agreement and the final plea offer involved the 24-year prison sentence, according to Simonetti.
Jury selection in Rezireksyon's trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Rezireksyon, 34, and her roommate, Myriam Janvier, 27, are facing murder and related charges in the May 22, 2011 death of Christiana Glenn, and various charges in the alleged abuse of Glenn's younger siblings, Solomon and Christina Glenn.
Rezireksyon has legally changed her name from Venette Ovilde. Janvier is expected to be tried separately.
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After Rezireksyon called 911 to report her daughter was not breathing in the family's Irvington apartment, police officers found Christiana Glenn was emaciated and had an untreated broken leg, authorities said. The two other children were also starved and sustained fractures that went untreated, authorities said.
In an interview later that day with detectives, Rezireksyon said Glenn had fallen while taking a bath two days beforehand, and her leg later became swollen. Rezireksyon said she later applied "sea salt" and "cornmeal and salt" to the girl's leg.
When she found her daughter not breathing, Rezireksyon said she, her two younger children and Janvier prayed over the girl's body for an hour to 90 minutes before she called 911.
When pressed by the detectives about the children's seemingly frail condition, she maintained they were "healthy" and said "they eat normal."
The trial will be based in large part on the women's religious practices and how their faith affected how they cared for the children. Both women have described themselves as Christian and reported speaking with "Christ."
As forms of discipline, Janvier has said they would tie the children to radiators, make them kneel on salt, and sometimes delay feeding them. The women also have indicated their faith influenced what type of food they provided to the children.
But Moncur has argued Rezireksyon was under "delusional spells" due to her pastor's teachings. At the trial, he is expected to present a "diminished capacity" defense, meaning she was suffering from a "mental defect or deficiency" at the time of Glenn's death.
Ravin ruled in September that a defense expert could testify at the trial that Rezireksyon suffered from "diminished capacity," but he could not testify she belonged to a religious cult and had been brainwashed by her pastor.
The judge said those findings of the expert are inadmissible, because they are not supported by factual evidence.
In January, Ravin ruled that Rezireksyon's statement to police would be admissible at her trial after finding she provided a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of her Miranda rights.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.