A 28-year-old mother has been jailed after she drowned her toddler while 'disciplining' her for wetting her bed.

Lin Li, 28, from Brooklyn, New York, held her two-year-old girl's head under water in a storage bin until she drowned.

She has been convicted of her daughter Melody Zheng's manslaughter, but was acquitted of second-degree murder following a trial last June.

A jury also found Li guilty of first-degree attempted assault for holding her four-year-old son's head under water the day before she drowned Melody four years ago.

She was today sentenced to 18 years in prison over the death as the court was told she was a 'strict mother' who had used dangerous methods of punishment on her children, the Mail Online reports.

Prosecutors portrayed Li as a strict parent during her trial, telling the jury she had taken Melody into a bathroom at her family's squalid Sunset Park apartment to discipline the child for wetting herself on March 13, 2016.

While the toddler's father was asleep, she submerged Melody's head in a plastic container filled with water, and held her there until she stopped struggling.

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Li walked out of the bathroom without stopping to check whether Melody was still alive.

She later called 911 and police who responded to the call found her husband performing CPR on their daughter.

Melody was rushed to hospital, but was pronounced dead.

A Medical Examiner found the girl's injuries consistent with the little girl being held underwater and drowned.

Li admitted in a police interview that she had held her daughter's head under water up to her forehead then left the room.

She reportedly said in the taped interview that she saw bubbles coming out of her daughter's mouth.

Li had denied drowning her daughter, telling the jury in her defense testimony that she had left Melody in the storage container for a brief period of time without supervision, according to US reports.

She also denied allegations she forced her son's head under water the previous day to discipline him too.

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Li's defense lawyer said the the couple and their two children were living in an overcrowded apartment, in which they shared the bathroom with a dozen other people.

The children had been living with their grandparents in China before joining their parents in New York just weeks before the drowning, the court was told.

Attorney Mario Romano described Li as a "loving caring mother" who blamed herself every day for what happened, saying he did not see her as "a monster."

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement to US media: "This defendant had a duty to care for her children and to keep them safe, but instead she used inexplicable and dangerous methods to discipline them – and caused the violent death her daughter.

"Nothing can bring back little Melody, who had an entire life ahead of her. But, with today’s sentence, we have obtained a measure of justice in this terribly tragic case."

Li directly addressed the sentencing judge, telling her through a translator she would accept whatever term of imprisonment was handed down.

She tearfully addressed the court, saying via the translator: "I would like to say being a mom, it is my duty to take care of my children, and I really regret my daughter's death.

"It was my mistake…losing my daughter is very, very painful to me."

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