Manhattan nanny gets life in prison for murdering 2 children in her care

By Amir Vera

    (CNN) -- A New York nanny convicted of murdering two children she was trusted to care for was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Yoselyn Ortega, 56, was found guilty in April of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder for stabbing Lucia Krim, 6, and Leo Krim, 2, to death in their Upper West Side home in Manhattan in October 2012.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in a statement Monday that Ortega violated the trust of a family in the "most horrific way imaginable" and that "Leo and Lulu will never live the lives that laid ahead of them."

Ortega said Monday she was "very sorry for everything that happened."

"My life is in the hands of God," she said.

The children called her Josie

Ortega's sentencing comes a little over five years after Marina Krim left Lucia and Leo in Ortega's care while she took her third child, then 3-year-old Nessie, to a swimming lesson at a nearby YMCA, police said.

Krim had made plans to meet Ortega, who her children affectionately called Josie, at a dance class for Lucia at 5:30 p.m. When Ortega didn't arrive on time Krim grew concerned and returned to her home to check on the children.

When she arrived she saw the lights were off in the home, which puzzled her. She returned to the lobby and asked the doorman if he had seen her children leave. He hadn't.

Krim took Nessie back upstairs, where they saw Ortega sitting next to the bathtub on the floor stabbing herself, in what authorities believe was an attempt to take her own life.

The children's father and Marina's husband, Kevin Krim, was returning home from a West Coast business trip when police reached him at John F. Kennedy International Airport to share the tragic news.

She was considered part of the family

Ortega is a naturalized US citizen and a native of the Dominican Republic. At the time of the deaths, she was living in Manhattan with her son, her sister and her niece, police said.

Ortega was introduced to the Krims through a family friend and had been working with them for two years, police said.

By all accounts, the Krims were happy with Ortega's work.

Marina and Kevin Krim both gave emotional and angry comments during their victim impact statements on Monday.

"The defendant set out to destroy what Kevin and I created and built: an inspired, happy, thriving family," Marina Krim said. "But she failed. What actually happened is the defendant destroyed her own family. She has destroyed the pride her family once felt. She has destroyed any sense of peace they'll ever have."

"The defendant is an evil and utterly dangerous narcissist and a complete failure," Kevin Krim said.

In memory of their children, the Krims created the Lulu & Leo fund in what Kevin called "an act of positive defiance." The fund is a curriculum-based call to action to help children and families foster creative confidence and build resilience.

The-CNN-Wire

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