Lynda Ayler and Shirley Ann Wells were almost like family.
Wells was the temporary foster mother for Ayler's 18-month-old granddaughter, Amber Lynn Bean, who Ayler's family was planning to adopt.
That all ended on a September night three years ago as Wells was trying to put the small child to sleep.
Prosecutors say Wells, frustrated with the girl's restlessness, placed Amber's arms under her abdomen, then placed Amber on her stomach. While Amber was lying on her stomach, Wells placed her hands on Amber's back and pressed down, prosecutors say.
Wells said she found the girl dead in her crib two hours later.
Tuesday morning, Wells pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to reduced charges of child abuse homicide, a third-degree felony. Wells, 40, admitted she acted "negligently," which caused Amber's death Sept. 1, 1996. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge from a second-degree felony because they feared they would have a hard time convincing a jury Wells acted intentionally.
"The state was concerned that there would be alternative hypotheses presented by the defense which might have resulted in the jury acquitting her," prosecutor James Cope said.
After Wells' plea was finalized, Ayler said she still had doubts that Wells' didn't intentionally kill Amber.
"During the time Amber was in foster care, we were close friends," Ayler said. "This has made it even harder. We didn't even know it happened until the day she (Wells) was charged."
Ayler and her husband had finalized Amber's adoption after Amber's mother was denied custody of the child when a court ruled she was unfit to care for the child.
The state's case against Wells was delayed for almost three years while the Utah Supreme Court decided what standard a case must meet for a judge to bind someone over for trial. After Wells' preliminary hearing, a judge said he did not know whether to bind the case over for trial, and Yengich used that as grounds for requesting a dismissal. The Supreme Court eventually ruled a judge does not need overwhelming evidence to bind over a case. Any amount of evidence will do, the higher court ruled.
"It's nice to have that rule of law down finally," Cope said.
The case was also delayed by differing opinions from medical examiners for both the defense and prosecution.
A medical expert for the prosecution ruled Amber's death was intentional, but the defense's medical expert ruled it an accident. A third court-appointed medical expert ruled Amber's death a homicide but could not determine whether it was intentional.
"At this point everybody concurred that there was no intent to harm the baby," said Ron Yengich, Wells' defense attorney.
Ayler, who has attended nearly every court proceeding, is just glad the case is almost over. She was in tears throughout much of Monday morning's court proceedings.
"It' real nice to finally see closure to it," Ayler said. "It's been going on too long."
Wells, who now lives with her husband and their adopted children in California, will be sentenced March 6 before Judge Anne Stirba. Wells faces a possibility of zero to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, but Yengich said he will ask Wells be placed on probation.
"I think she's entitled to leniency," Yengich said.
If she had been convicted of the original second-degree charge against her, Wells could have spent up to 15 years in prison.