A Belmont County mother will serve 15 years to life in prison for the death of her 2-year-old daughter.

Erin Bell, 23, of Bridgeport, was sentenced Friday morning after pleading guilty to one count of murder and one felony count of child endangerment in connection with the death of her daughter, Mylie.

Erin Bell will serve her sentence at the Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio, Judge John Solovan II said.

Belmont County Sheriff Fred Thompson previously said the child had "extensive bruising over a large portion of her body," and a medical examiner said the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

The toddler was pronounced dead upon her arrival at Wheeling Hospital in January 2011. Deputies later arrested Bell at her apartment in Wolfhurst.

On Friday, Solovan gave Bell the chance to speak in open court before her sentence was handed down. Bell said, "I want to apologize to her father, if he was able to be here. Sorry to the court. Sorry to my family."

The judge said he had received a letter from Bell but felt although she pleaded guilty, Bell wasn't accepting responsibility for what he called "recklessness."

"You caused the death of your own child," Solovan said. "In your letter, you refer to the terms 'accident' and that 'nothing was intentional.'"

The judge added that the tragic death "could and should have been avoided."

Prosecutor Chris Berhalter recommended the maximum sentence of life in prison for Bell. As Bell was escorted out of the courtroom, Berhalter said the appropriate sentence was carried out.

"While there is a certain time element in which someone becomes parole-eligible, it is a sentence of life in prison," he said.