MODESTO — Kelle Anne Brassart was given the maximum non-determinant sentence of 15 years-to-life in prison on Thursday for the drowning death of her 2-year-old daughter, Daniellé Pires, at their Turlock home.

Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Dawna F. Reeves handed down the sentence after listening to impact statements from two of the victim’s half-sisters and aunt.

The 45-year-old Brassart was found guilty on Jan. 6 of second-degree murder and felony child endangerment by an eight-woman, four-man jury, following a three-week trial.

On Sept. 12, Daniellé was left unsupervised in the back yard of the family’s Fireside Drive residence for nearly 30 minutes before she eventually hopped into the swimming pool.

The child could not swim.

After a lengthy struggle, Daniellé stopped moving and floated for several minutes until she was removed from the water by Turlock Police Officer Nicholas Gutierrez.

Brassart, confined to a wheelchair after surgery on both ankles, called 911 about 45 minutes after the girl had gone outside, never attempting to go outside to rescue her child.

Police determined that Brassart had been drinking at the time of the incident, with a blood-alcohol level that registered .16 and .17 in separate tests — twice the limit for operating a vehicle — three hours after her daughter’s death.

Defense attorney Franz Criego said his client’s conduct was reckless, but not malicious, and her alcohol use that day was driven by untreated alcoholism.

“This case involves profound tragedy,” Criego said in a sentencing memorandum that portrayed his client as a victim of childhood trauma, domestic violence, untreated depression and anxiety, long-standing emotional instability, and medical issues. “A young child lost her life, and Ms. Brassart must live with that reality for the rest of her days.

“The purpose of this memorandum is not to diminish the gravity of that loss, or minimize the court’s responsibility. Rather, it is to present the full context of Ms. Brassart’s life, her remorse, her alcohol-related struggles, and the mitigating factors that strongly support a sentence at the lower end of the statutory range.”

No longer polished for her daily court appearances, Brassart wore orange-and-white-striped jail coveralls over a pale blue shirt, and orange rubber sandals. Her brown hair, once dyed blonde, was pulled back into a ponytail off her face. She showed no emotion as Reeves delivered the sentence.

Brassart was remanded to the custody of the sheriff for transfer to the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She’ll be incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.

Jordan Brassart, 22, the eldest of Brassart’s five surviving children, delivered an emotional victim impact statement, asking Reeves to mete out the harshest sentence possible.

“Saying I am deeply aggrieved and resentful is an understatement,” said Jordan Brassart, dressed in a black skirt and jacket that was partially covered by her long, dark hair. “I never thought Kelle would put me in the position I am in today: reading a victim impact statement in court against my mom… Kelle Anne Brassart deserves a life sentence without parole — and nothing less.”

Brassart also told the court harrowing tales of abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother, including an account from when she was a young girl and received only a spoonful of mayonnaise for sustenance.

“You’re a (expletive) liar! You’re a (expletive) liar!” Kelle Brassart screamed at her daughter, who was seated less than 10 feet away, with only Criego and Deputy District Attorney Sara Sousa between them.

Admonished by Reeves and threatened with removal from the proceeding, Brassart remained silent for the remaining 30 minutes she was in court.

Also delivering statements were Kathleen Brown, the victim’s aunt, and Macie Pires, one of two adult daughters of David Pires, Daniellé’s father. Both asked Reeves for maximum punishment.

Brown recalled a phone conversation with David Pires, her older brother, on the day of the incident.

“I will never forget that call: the distress in his voice and the gut-wrenching realization that he was calling me from the hospital, alone and broken, having just had a beautiful light in his world go dark,” Brown read. “Daniellé was just shy of 3 years old, a bright and beautiful little girl with her whole life ahead of her and a future full of milestones we will never get to witness.”

Macie Pires told the court that, in the days after her sister’s death, she used up vacation time and sick leave in order to be at her father’s side.

“Although my father and I were not especially close, I always believed that we would be able to build a stronger relationship,” a tearful Pires said. “Being able to watch him love my little sister and be everything for her that he could not be for me, might’ve healed something in me. Kelle took an entire reality that I had planned for me and my little sister.”

Pires also shared a story from Sept. 19.

“One week after she died, on what would’ve been her third birthday, we put a candle on a little bundt cake and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her,” Pires said. “We all went to bed sobbing.”

Still using a wheelchair, Brassart was pushed out of the courtroom by bailiff Deputy Roberto Ramos and then pushed by Criego through a courthouse hallway — just a short distance from where the victim’s family was conferring with Sousa.

“This is the maximum,” the prosecutor told family members. “This is a life sentence.”