Mom sentenced in torture, killing of child 19 (UPI) -- A San Diego woman who tortured and killed her 9-year-old daughter was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, a judge said. San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenie Eyherabide sentenced Crystal Cardenas, 27, Tuesday for her second-degree murder conviction in the death of Elizabeth Holloway. The child was brutalized after going to live with her mother and her boyfriend, Lorenzo Castillo, in 2009, authorities said. Cardenas inflicted "slapping, punching, kicking, choking, stomping and actually burned her daughter," Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Krause told the judge. "Ms. Cardenas talked to her daughter like a piece of trash and discarded her like a piece of trash," she said. The child became increasingly ill, stopped breathing at home on Jan. 11 and died at a hospital. Cardenas, who was arrested on charges of murder, torture and five counts of child abuse, pleaded guilty Aug. 21. Castillo, who was arrested on the same counts, was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of felony child abuse, U-T San Diego reported Wednesday.