A Dawson City woman who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing her child was sentenced to six years in a federal penitentiary on Friday afternoon.

Justina Ellis, 23, was originally charged with second-degree murder for the death of her infant daughter, Samara Olson, in August 2004.

The night Olson died, Yukon Supreme Court heard, Ellis had been drinking. She said she drank six ciders between 6 and 10 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2004.

At around 10:00 that night, Olson started to cry.

Ellis told the RCMP she felt frustrated when the baby started crying. She proceeded to slap and shake the child before covering her mouth and nose with a blanket, suffocating her.

According to autopsy results, however, the baby was badly beaten and died as a result of a skull fracture that caused bleeding in and on the brain.

After she had stopped breathing, Ellis put her body in a garbage bag and left it in a trash can outside of Klondike Kate's Restaurant and Cabins in Dawson City.

She phoned the RCMP at around 1:55 a.m. to report Olson missing, telling police she'd left the child in a stroller outside of a local hotel. She said that Olson was gone when she came back outside.

A few hours later, however, she led police to Olson's body.

While Ellis' sentencing hearing finished in October, Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale delivered the sentence on Friday afternoon.

He sentenced Ellis to six years in prison, though she was given 30 months' credit for time she has already spent in jail at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

As a result, she will serve another 3 1/2 years.

Veale said there were a number of aggravating factors in the case, including the amount of violence involved in Olson's death and Ellis' history of serious child abuse.

He noted that she has been convicted of assaulting another woman and of stabbing the baby's father, Tim Olson, in the leg.

Another factor that made the violent death very serious is that the victim was a child, the judge said.

'The killing of a child, not to mention one's own child, is a very aggravating circumstance. Children are helpless and dependent entirely on the care and nurturing of their parents. This offence involved the violent abuse of a child and a most serious breach of trust,' Veale told the court.

'Children are the most helpless victims in our society and deserve the utmost protection.'

He added that it is important not to let the tragedy of the infant's death unfairly influence Ellis' sentence.

There are also many circumstances that reduce Ellis' culpability, he said. These include pleading guilty, co-operating with police, her mental disorders and her difficult past.

Ellis has been diagnosed with both Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, a result of exposure to alcohol before she was born, and Borderline Personality Disorder, often associated with women who suffer serious sexual abuse as children.

She suffered neglect as well as physical and sexual abuse throughout her childhood and described herself as 'a full alcoholic' by the age of 12, according to court documents.

Ellis also began sniffing whiteout and gas and using marijuana as a child.

Veale said that when sentencing aboriginal offenders, their unique circumstances must be taken into account.

'In this case, those circumstances undoubtedly include the abuse that occurred to parents and relatives of Justina Ellis who attended residential schools,' he said.

'Although no evidence was led on that issue, the dysfunction from residential schools may be felt by following generations.'

Based on recommendations from Ellis' probation officer, Veale recommended she be sent to the Fraser Valley Institute, a prison for women with mental health problems and disorders in Abbotsford, B.C.

He also strongly recommended that she attend a special kind of treatment called dialectical behaviour therapy, based on the testimony of a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed her.

This specialized treatment involves training for life skills as well as individual psychotherapy.

After she has completed her sentence, Ellis will likely return to the territory, Veale told the court. When she does, the territorial government will be responsible for providing her with long-term supervision and treatment, he said.

'If such a structured living environment is not provided, the evidence in this case is that the benefit of the initial years of treatment will be lost. That outcome would only compound this tragedy,' he said.

'There is no cure for Ms. Ellis. The protection of society will require long-term treatment and support for Justina Ellis.'