Woman sentenced to 31 years for death of 3-year-old

Kansas City, Kansas: Yesterday afternoon Jacquelyn Kirkpatrick, 35, was sentenced to 376 months in prison, or 31 years and 4 months, the maximum sentence agreed to under her plea agreement.

According to KCTV she will receive credit for 528 days for time served in jail.

Kirkpatrick pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, one count of child abuse, and two counts of interference with a law enforcement officer in November.

As a part of the plea deal, Kirkpatrick will be testifying against Olivia's father, Howard Jansen III when his trial for first-degree murder, aggravated endangering of a child under the age of 18, and desecration of a dead body begins in May.

Jansen reported that Olivia was missing on July 10, 2020, alleging that he had woken up at approximately 5:30 to find her missing and a door of the home open.

An Amber Alert was issued soon thereafter, but canceled later that night when investigators discovered her body in a shallow grave less than a mile from home.

Jansen was arrested that night and Kirkpatrick was arrested the following day.

This case has brought to attention what some claim to be a failure in the system concerning the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

Olivia's relatives took the opportunity presented to them during Kirkpatrick's sentencing to read statements that expressed their belief that the system failed Olivia.

Despite allegedly only two instances investigated by the Department of Children and Families, a 533-page case file was handed over to the judge in August. That full report has not been released despite Howard Jansesn II's appeal for transparency.