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Woman to be sentenced for beating toddler to death

Shawna Gatto was found guilty of murdering Kendall Chick.

WISCASSET, Maine — The woman accused of beating Kendall Chick, 4, to death in Wiscasset in December 2017 is expected to be sentenced for murder on Tuesday.

A judged found Shawna Gatto was guilty of the beating death in April.

Judge William Stokes called Gatto's actions 'repulsive.’

RELATED: Wiscasset woman found guilty in murder of Kendall Chick

"Kendall's head was literally smashed into the wall of her bedroom with such force the drywall was broken," Stokes said. "Such conduct can only be described as torture."

Chick was in the care of her grandfather and his fiancée, Gatto, in their Wiscasset home when she was beaten to death in 2017. She had been placed there by the state.

Just months after Chick’s death, Marissa Kennedy, 10, was allegedly beaten to death by her mother and step-father in Stockton Springs.

Tuesday’s sentencing is expected to open the door to information from the Dept. of Health and Human Services on the case that had previously been sealed.

RELATED: Year after 10-year-old's death, Maine DHHS still searching for solutions

A spokesperson for DHHS told NEWS CENTER Maine the information will be shared ‘promptly’ following Tuesday’s proceedings. 

This comes after months of controversy around what DHHS failed to do to protect Chick and Kennedy whose deaths many advocates say could have been prevented.

NEWS CENTER Maine filed a lawsuit against DHHS demanding access to case files on the children in March 2018. Our requests were denied.

RELATED: NEWS CENTER Maine files lawsuit against DHHS, demands access to child case files

The deaths also sparked reforms to Maine's child welfare system by increasing funding and limiting case loads.

An investigation into the department is still ongoing.

“I firmly believe if they would have visited one more time, just one more time they would have removed that child,” Sen. Bill Diamond said in April after Gatto was found guilty. “If DHHS could have gone just one more time I think that girl would be alive today.”

Gatto could face anywhere from 25 years to life in prison.

Sentencing is expected to start at 9 a.m. in Lincoln County Superior Court.

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