COVINGTON, Ga. – The woman who left her child strapped in a car seat on the side the road last year has been sentenced to spend the next seven years in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.

Kimora Tubbs, 23, had pleaded guilty to child cruelty in Newton County Superior Court in May. She was arrested by investigators April 20, 2017, three weeks after the male toddler was found strapped in his car seat in a ditch on Highway 11 near Highway 373.

According to the Newton County Sheriff’s Office incident report, a man was walking south on Highway 11 from its intersection with Highway 278 March 30, 2017 when he heard what sounded like a small child cry. When he went to investigate the sound, he found the child in his car seat, laying on its right side facing the wood line. According to the report, he was unable to see the child until he turned the car seat over.

First responders transported the child via air ambulance from the scene to be checked.

The sheriff’s office shared the story with multiple news outlets, including The Covington News, in an effort to find somebody who knew something about the 14-month-old.

Tubbs reportedly called 911 and told the operator she thought the baby was hers. She told investigators she had given her child to a friend in the parking lot of the Walmart on Industrial Boulevard. Investigators later learned that the friend did not exist.

Newton County Senior Assistant District Attorney Amber Bennett told The Covington News in May that it was estimated that the child was in the car seat on the side of the road for around 16 hours. She said the toddler was found with a full diaper and a small cut on his forehead.

At the time Tubbs made her guilty plea, Alcovy Circuit Judge Ken Wynne ordered a presentence investigation.

Bennett told The News Thursday that Wynne sentenced Tubbs to 20 years probation with the first seven years to be served in confinement. Bennett said special conditions were also attached to the sentence.