Girl, 16, who stabbed her minutes old baby daughter to death with scissors gets ten years

Two years ago Rebecca Blackmore killed her baby just minutes after she was born

Now 18, she entered a guilty plea to second degree murder and faces the next 10-12 years in prison

A teenage girl who two years ago stabbed her healthy baby daughter to death just minutes after giving birth has been sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison.

Rebecca Blackmore, now 18, from Knotts Island, North Carolina, entered a guilty plea to second degree murder on Monday.

She had delivered the baby at home on June 17, 2011, but when relatives took her to hospital later she told nurses the little girl had been stillborn.

Rebecca Blackmore, now 18, from Knotts Island, North Carolina, entered a guilty plea to second degree murder on Monday and faces between 10 and 12 years in prison (photo from 2011)

When police went to Blackmore's home, they found the baby's body hidden inside her bedroom closet.

Under North Carolina law anyone aged 16 and above can be charged with first-degree murder as an adult.

Following Blackmore’s plea, prosecutors reduced that charge, which could have resulted in a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Blackmore was released from jail in September 2011 after a judge reduced her bond from $500,000 to $250,000 and set other terms for her release.

Young couple: Rebecca Blackmore with her then boyfriend, Michael Derosier. Police searched his house but he wasn't charged

She was taken back into custody after Monday’s hearing to begin serving her sentence, reports The Outer Banks Voice.

The Medical Examiner's Office in Greenville had previously determined that the baby was born alive and survived for only a short amount of time. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds.

Officials said Blackmore lived a short distance from a fire station where the baby could have been dropped off under the state's 'Safe Haven' law.

The Safe Haven Law allows parents to abandon infants less than seven days old with health care providers, law enforcement officers and social workers without risk of prosecution.