Davis woman sentenced for beating 2-year-old daughter on Delta flight from Mexico to Seattle
A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Davis woman for beating her 2-year-old daughter in May while on board a Delta Airlines flight from Mexico to Seattle as she deterred other passengers from intervening.
Breanna Rae Mistler, 33, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault by beating, wounding or striking as part of a plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle announced in a news release.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida sentenced Mistler to time already served in custody, about three weeks, at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac in Seattle. She was released from custody May 24 after posting a bail bond pending the conclusion of her federal criminal case, custody records show.
As part of her sentence, the judge ordered Mistler to serve a year of parole under the supervision of federal probation officers. Tsuchida said Mistler also will be supervised by Child Protective Services, along with serving parole under the supervision of California probation officers for a recent Solano County conviction.
Mistler was arrested May 1 after arriving at Sea-Tac Airport on a Delta Airlines flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Federal prosecutors said passengers on the flight saw Mistler physically abuse her daughter, who was in a window seat. Her mother was in an aisle seat.
Witnesses who were on the plane told investigators the child woke up Mistler, and then the mother turned and kicked the child.
In her plea agreement, Mistler denied she kicked her daughter but admitted to hitting and shaking the little girl, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the witnesses also told investigators that Mistler struck the child multiple times with her hand, and one witness reported Mistler shook the child “like a rag doll.”
Mistler persisted in the abuse, prosecutors said, despite the other passengers attempts to intervene, telling them to “mind their own (expletive) business.”
“Even by the horrific standards of child abuse cases, this is shocking,” the federal prosecutors have said in filed court documents. “It is also the second time in six months that Mistler is charged with endangering her child.”
At the time of the reported child abuse, Mistler had been prohibited to travel outside the United States after the Solano County District Attorney’s Office charged her with burglary.
Solano Superior Court records show Mistler was charged with burglary and arson in December from an incident that occurred in Dixon. Mistler was accused of burglarizing her mother’s home by climbing through her bedroom window and bringing her then-1-year-old daughter with her, according to filed court documents in the county criminal case.
The Solano County Sheriff’s Office said Mistler and her sister slashed tires on their mother’s car and stole three custom-made sweaters worth about $100 each. They also took motor oil, before Mistler and her sister barricaded themselves inside a storage unit and later surrendered to authorities, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Federal prosecutors said that Mistler will begin serving a four-month California prison sentence in September for the arson conviction. Mistler’s federal parole will begin after she completes her state prison sentence.
Mistler was participating parenting and anger management classes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday. The federal prosecutors noted in court the child’s extreme vulnerability, telling the judge that the girl “was two years old and trapped in the window seat on an airplane.”
“Given her young age and her physical confinement, she had no recourse to resist or avoid being hit, kicked, or shaken by her mother,” the prosecutors said in a document submitted to the court.
At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Mistler’s attorney Dennis Carroll told the judge that the assault came when Mistler hit her “lowest point,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The defense attorney also told the judge Mistler is now “sober, reflective and remorseful and currently has supervised visits with her daughter.”
At her sentencing, Mistler told the judge: “I hit rock bottom. I am a better person now. I want to continue to be better.”
Judge Tsuchida told Mistler: “You are taking steps ... I hope you start over with a more stable life — you have a very young child, and she deserves that.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Forstein prosecuted the case against Mistler.
This story was originally published August 29, 2024 at 11:18 AM.
