Maige Elizabeth Yang admitted putting a large amount of sleeping medication in her 18-month-old daughter’s bottle after a custody ruling.

CHAMPLIN, Minn. — A Minnesota mother will spend more than three decades in prison after pleading guilty to intentionally killing her 18-month-old daughter with sleeping medication on the same day a judge granted temporary custody of the child to her father.

Maige Elizabeth Yang, 24, received a 380-month prison sentence, equal to 31 years and eight months, for intentional second-degree murder in the death of De’Ali Blia Delgado. Reporting based on court records said Yang received credit for 196 days already served. She had pleaded guilty in June, ending the criminal case without a trial and leaving sentencing as the final major step in a prosecution that began after De’Ali died Jan. 9 at a hospital following an emergency response at a Champlin home.

The prison term closes the criminal case around an act Yang admitted to investigators after she survived an apparent suicide attempt, according to the criminal complaint and reports based on it. Investigators said Yang put a “significant amount” of children’s sleeping medication into De’Ali’s bottle after returning from a custody hearing. Yang told police she intended to end her daughter’s life and said she hoped De’Ali would “pass peacefully in her sleep.” Those admissions became central to the second-degree murder charge filed against her days later.

The events unfolded rapidly after the custody hearing. Yang’s parents told investigators that a judge had granted temporary custody of De’Ali to the girl’s father earlier that day. After the family returned to the Champlin home, Yang took the toddler upstairs to a bedroom and locked the door, according to the complaint. Yang’s father later tried to check on them. Unable to enter, he forced the door open and found his granddaughter on the floor with her lips turning blue. He picked her up, carried her downstairs and called 911.

Champlin police responded to the home in the 11900 block of Castle Rock Court after receiving a report of a child in distress. Officers found De’Ali on the living room floor and not breathing. Police attempted lifesaving measures before emergency medical personnel transported her to a hospital. She was pronounced dead there. Officers also were told that Yang was in distress and found her partially unconscious in an upstairs bedroom after what authorities described as an apparent suicide attempt. She was taken to a hospital under police supervision.

After Yang was medically treated, investigators questioned her about what had happened. According to the criminal complaint, she acknowledged putting a large amount of children’s sleeping medication in the bottle and then feeding it to De’Ali. She told investigators she had acted “to make the pain go away.” The complaint also said Yang wanted her daughter to die in her sleep. Prosecutors charged Yang on Jan. 13 with second-degree murder, alleging that the poisoning was intentional rather than an accident involving medication in the home.

The killing followed a dispute over who would care for De’Ali. Her father, Erick Delgado, had sought permanent custody months earlier and submitted an emergency request for temporary sole custody in early January. In that filing, according to reporting on the family court records, Delgado alleged that Yang had been behaving erratically and said he believed she might have untreated mental health problems. Those statements were allegations in a custody proceeding, not a medical diagnosis. The court did not immediately grant his emergency request and instead scheduled a hearing.

There was another warning days before the hearing. On Jan. 3, Champlin police issued an endangered-person alert for Yang and De’Ali after relatives said they had not seen them for nearly a week, according to local reporting. The alert was canceled within hours when Yang and the toddler were found safe. Six days later, the scheduled custody hearing was held. The judge granted Delgado temporary custody. The fatal poisoning occurred later that day, before De’Ali could begin living under the new custody arrangement.

Delgado publicly described the timing in stark terms after his daughter’s death. He said he had won custody on Jan. 9 and expected to have his daughter with him, only to lose her that afternoon. He later created an online fundraiser for funeral expenses and described De’Ali as his “beautiful princess.” His statements reflected years of effort to remain part of the child’s life and the shock of receiving a favorable custody decision only hours before she died.

De’Ali’s obituary offered a fuller picture of the toddler beyond the court documents. Born July 25, 2024, in Minneapolis, she was remembered as an energetic child who loved mashed potatoes and horchata, enjoyed books and musical instruments and was drawn to anything that made noise. Her family described her as constantly talking in her own way, dancing and bouncing with excitement. The obituary said she was especially close to her father, who called her affectionate nicknames and regularly told her that she was beautiful.

The prosecution moved comparatively quickly after Yang’s arrest. She was initially held on a high bail after leaving the hospital. By June, she had entered a guilty plea to intentional second-degree murder. Minnesota news reports said the plea agreement allowed for an aggravated sentence of as much as 35 years. The eventual 380-month term fell below that figure but still amounted to more than 31 years in prison. Because Yang pleaded guilty, prosecutors did not have to present the case to a jury or prove the murder charge at trial.

The sentence also changed how the case could be described legally. At the time Yang was charged, accounts of what happened were allegations contained in a criminal complaint, even though police said she had confessed. Her guilty plea constituted an admission to the second-degree murder offense. The sentencing then imposed the punishment for that conviction. Reports on the sentence said she received 196 days of credit for time she had already spent in custody.

The published record does not establish that the earlier missing-person response or the family court had evidence that Yang would kill De’Ali on Jan. 9. Delgado had raised concerns about Yang in his custody filing, and a judge ultimately transferred temporary custody to him. The killing nevertheless happened during the short period between that decision and the child’s physical transfer into his care. No verified report reviewed for this article identified a separate criminal case or official finding that another person caused or contributed to De’Ali’s death.

With Yang’s guilty plea and 380-month prison sentence, the principal criminal case arising from De’Ali’s death has reached its sentencing stage. De’Ali, who was 18 months old when she died, is remembered by her family as a lively toddler who loved food, music, books and being close to the people she loved.

Author note: Last updated October 19, 2026.