A Tuesday court ruling ordering a man charged with shaking a baby to death will serve 10 years in prison sparked outcry from the child’s grandmother but silence from the baby’s mother.

The mother, Karen Smith of Natchez, declined comment Tuesday after the Adams County Circuit Court Judge Forrest &uot;Al&uot; Johnson sentenced her former boyfriend, James Dillard, 21, 8 Old Lewis Lane, for the May 1999 murder of her daughter, 7-month-old Arayeanna Jackson.

Johnson sentenced Dillard to 20 years in jail – the maximum sentence for manslaughter. Johnson had pleaded guilty to manslaughter last Tuesday.

But after serving 10 years, Dillard is to be released to serve rest of his sentence on post-release supervision.

At the sentencing hearing, Smith spoke to the court only through a letter she had mailed to the district attorney’s office. In the letter, she told the court she was sure her baby’s death was an accident. &uot;You can’t prosecute him because I know it wasn’t intentional,&uot; she wrote in the letter.

In the letter, she also expressed her love for her daughter but wrote &uot;in her heart and mind&uot; she does not think Dillard meant to hurt the child.

Prosecutors believe Dillard shook the baby several times while she was in his care at Smith’s residence at 549 West Stiers Lane.

Evidence suggested the baby died from shaken-baby syndrome with injuries to her eyes and brain, said Assistant District Attorney Vincent Davis.

After Dillard injured the baby, he called 911 for help, according to evidence in the case.

The baby died two days later at University Medical Center in Jackson.

Other members of the baby’s family thought Dillard should have to serve more years in jail for inflicting what they believe were intentional injuries to the baby.

Smith’s mother, Mildred Smith, said she did not know her daughter had written the letter, and she had long noticed problems between the couple.

&uot;If she had listened to her mama, Arayeanna would not be dead,&uot; Mildred Smith said after the hearing. &uot;I’d seen it coming.&uot;

Karen Smith’s opinions about her baby’s death made the case harder for prosecutors and could have been a crucial factor if the case had gone to trial, said District Attorney Ronnie Harper. &uot;It’s not good to go into a trial where your victim is on the side of your defendant,&uot; Harper said.

Dillard was indicted for murder but pleaded to the lesser charge of manslaughter last week. He told the court he shook the baby at least four times because she would not stop crying.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Johnson listened to a tape of Dillard’s conversation with the 911 operator. &uot;It does reflect that the defendant was quite distressed and made immediate efforts to call medical personnel to assist the child,&uot; Johnson said.

But Johnson told Dillard that did not excuse him from what he had done. &uot;You don’t take a small child and shake it violently,&uot; Johnson said.

Dillard’s mother, Evelyn Dillard, said she had visited her son last Sunday and told him to keep praying.

&uot;The Lord’s will will be done,&uot;&160;she said just before her son’s sentencing.