EDMONTON — An Edmonton woman has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the killing of an eight-year-old girl in a case that has seen police publicly challenge Crown prosecutors.

The 29-year-old was charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to the reduced charge Wednesday in Court of King’s Bench.

It comes a day after Edmonton’s interim police chief made public a letter from his force to Alberta’s justice ministry saying it was aware of the plea deal and urging the Crown to call it off.

The letter challenges the traditional firewall that separates police, who investigate a case, from prosecutors, who determine how best to proceed with the case in court.

It says a significantly reduced sentence that would typically accompany a manslaughter conviction would fail to see justice done

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