BATON ROUGE - A jury found a grandmother guilty of manslaughter after she forced a 4-year-old girl to drink alcohol as a form of punishment, resulting in the child's death.

In April 2022, first responders discovered 4-year-old China Record unresponsive in a home on Wallis Street. Investigators said that the child's grandmother, 53-year-old Roxanne Record, caught the child taking a sip of whiskey before allegedly forcing the girl to drink the rest of the bottle. 

The girl's mother, 28-year-old Kadjah Record, allegedly witnessed the incident without intervening, according to police. The child died with a blood-alcohol level of .680 percent, according to the East Baton Rouge coroner.

Both the mother and grandmother were formally charged with first-degree murder in the child's death in July 2022. 

On Friday, the prosecution and defense gave closing arguments in the case.

The jury deliberated for over six hours. 

"My biggest concern was that the case would hang up, and it would be a hung jury and that would have been really hard to try this case again because we had children witnesses, and it was just a difficult case to get together," East Baton Rouge Assistant District Attorney Dana Cummings said. 

The jury stopped several times with questions for the judge, asking for any evidence they can provide related to the case, and for the definitions of second degree murder and manslaughter to be reread.

"They deliberated for a long time, they put a lot of thought, effort into it, it was a tough case and I think they made a good decision," Cummings said. 

Roxanne Record reportedly told detectives she wanted to take full blame for China's death and admitted she "went too far" punishing the girl. She was indicted on an additional charge of cruelty to juveniles.

On Friday, two grandkids who were in the home at the time of the incident recalled how they heard Roxanne Record say, "Now drink the rest," after China Record was allegedly caught drinking the alcohol. One of the children said the 4-year-old was flailing around before passing out in the hallway. The child went on to explain how China Record was then put in the bathtub so water could be run over her. 

The defense called this situation a tragic accident, claiming record was tall enough to reach the counter the alcohol was on.

Kadjah Record remains in the parish prison tonight on first degree murder and cruelty charges in connection to her daughter's death. She's scheduled to appear back in court next month

"We wanted to try this case first, and that ones next in the agenda," Cummings said. 

Sentencing for Roxanne is scheduled for August 10; she faces up to 40 years in prison.