SEATTLE — When she was 13, Ashley Howes was charged with killing a toddler she had been baby-sitting at a West Seattle home.

A judge ultimately dismissed the murder charge in 2005, ruling that Seattle police detectives violated Howes’ Fifth Amendment rights by not advising her of her Miranda rights and not giving her a chance to have her parents present when she was questioned.

Although Howes is now 21, married and living in Port Townsend, the scars she bears from being detained, questioned and charged have not faded, says her attorney Lincoln Beauregard. “The damage they did by charging her and dragging her through this ruined her life.”

On Tuesday, the city of Seattle agreed to pay Howes $215,000 to settle a federal lawsuit she filed in 2011 against the city and four of the detectives who questioned her during the homicide investigation.

The city and the police department did not comment on the settlement.

Even after the criminal charge was dropped, Howes was shunned and taunted for years by classmates, who called her a “baby killer,” according to the lawsuit. She began to cut herself and attempted suicide at least seven times, including once when she attempted to slit her own throat, the lawsuit claims.