China Arnold was born on March 29, 1980, in the United States. Her early life was marked by instability, and in adulthood, she struggled with legal issues and personal challenges. By the time of the events that would define her life, Arnold had already faced convictions for abduction in 2000 and forgery in 2002, signaling a troubled path long before the murder of her child.

Arnold lived in a Dayton, Ohio, housing complex with her boyfriend, Terrell Talley, and her children. Their domestic situation was volatile, with frequent arguments and conflicts. Despite these difficulties, Arnold was the primary caregiver for her children, including her newborn daughter, Paris Talley, who was less than one month old in the summer of 2005. However, her life was also marred by substance abuse — during later investigations and court proceedings, Arnold admitted that she was heavily intoxicated on the night of her daughter’s death, reportedly to the point of blacking out.

These elements — an unstable home environment, legal troubles, alcohol abuse, and a volatile relationship — set the stage for a crime that would become one of the most shocking and infamous filicide cases in modern American legal history.

On August 30, 2005, China Arnold placed her 28-day-old daughter, Paris Talley, in a microwave for two minutes during a heated argument about the baby's paternity. After the two minutes, she removed Paris and put her on a table. Paris died within seconds due to the extreme heat. Medical experts later determined that her body temperature had reached between 107 and 108 degrees Fahrenheit, which caused internal injuries, though there were no external burns.

The following day, Paris was found cold and stiff with burn marks on her body. Her parents took her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Arnold told investigators that she had been intoxicated at the time of the incident. She had a criminal record that included a conviction for abduction in 2000 and forgery in 2002.

Arnold was arrested shortly after Paris's death but was released due to a lack of evidence. She was rearrested in November 2006. While awaiting trial, Arnold formed a relationship with her cellmate, Linda Williams, who later testified that Arnold confessed her guilt.

Her first trial began in February 2008. During this trial, Arnold's boyfriend claimed that their son had said another person put the baby in the microwave. This led the judge to declare a mistrial.

In the second trial, Arnold's boyfriend's testimony changed, and he stated that the person he had mentioned was not present at the time of Paris's death. As a result, Arnold was convicted of aggravated murder on September 8, 2008, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In November 2010, the Ohio Second District Court of Appeals reversed Arnold's conviction. They cited prosecutorial misconduct and stated that the trial court had made errors by not allowing important witnesses to testify in her defense.

A third trial started on May 13, 2011. The jury found Arnold guilty of aggravated murder again. The defense argued that the evidence pointed as much to her boyfriend as it did to her, but the jury did not find this convincing. Arnold was sentenced to life in prison without parole on May 20, 2011. An appeal regarding her case was made in September 2013 but was not successful. In December 2013, the court affirmed her conviction. An attempt to appeal the life sentence again in 2014 was denied by the Ohio Supreme Court.