--- description: The parents of a girl who died nearly three years ago after being forced to drink large amounts of liquids were sentenced to prison title: Couple Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Girl's Soda Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Couple Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Girl's Soda Death  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2014 2:34 AM CUT  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2014 2:34 AM CUT The father and stepmother of a Tennessee girl who died nearly three years ago after being forced to drink large amounts of liquids as punishment were [sentenced](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-usa-crime-tennessee-idUSKBN0JN2N620141209 "undefined") to 35 years in prison on Monday. Randall and Mary Vaughn, 42 and 59, respectively, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated child neglect, _Reuters_ reports. The couple had been [indicted in February](http://nation.time.com/2014/02/07/grape-soda-murder-stepmother-father-child/ "undefined") after the girl’s four siblings, now in foster care and ages 7 to 16, provided key details to authorities. The girl, Alexa Linboom, had been forced to drink more than half a gallon of grape soda and water over two hours in January 2012, according to District Attorney General Dan Armstrong, as part of her punishment for drinking one or two sodas that had been set out for adults. The excessive drinking apparently caused her brain to swell, Armstrong added, resulting in her death two days later at a hospital. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-usa-crime-tennessee-idUSKBN0JN2N620141209 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3626925/soda-death-jail/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3626925/soda-death-jail/"},"headline":"Couple Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Girl's Soda Death","datePublished":"2014-12-10T02:34:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:43:11.549Z","description":"The 5-year-old died after allegedly being forced to drink large amounts of grape soda and water","url":"https://time.com/3626925/soda-death-jail/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3626925/soda-death-jail/","name":"Couple Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Girl's Soda Death"}}]}] ```