(CNN) -- A North Carolina woman will serve at least 14 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in the death last year of her 10-year-old stepdaughter.
As part of a plea agreement, Elisa Baker admitted killing Zahra Baker and attempting to thwart investigators by planting a fake ransom note at the family's Hickory, North Carolina, home in October 2010. Zahra's body was dismembered and some of the remains were found a month later.
The freckle-faced girl's disappearance and search drew national attention. Zahra had lost part of her left leg at age 5 and lost hearing in both her ears while undergoing treatment for cancer.
Dressed in a pink jail jumpsuit, Baker answered Judge Timothy Kincaid's questions in a soft voice during her plea hearing Thursday. Kincaid advised her that she will face between 14 years, nine months, and 18 years, six months in prison.
Kincaid had already agreed to move Baker's murder trial out of Catawba County because of pretrial publicity in the case. The judge was supposed to announce Monday where the trial would be held, according to CNN affiliate WCNC, but that hearing was put on hold because of the pending plea deal.
Baker also pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice, bigamy, obtaining property by false pretenses and identity fraud.
In the plea agreement she signed, and also under questioning Thursday, Baker admitted to several aggravating factors in the case, including "a history and pattern of physical, verbal and psychological abuse of the victim." Moreover, Baker said she "secreted the victim from family and others" and "desecrated the victim's body to hinder detection," hampering the police investigation as a result.
She also accepted statutory aggravating factors, namely that "the victim was very young, physically infirm or handicapped" and that "the defendant took advantage of a position of trust or confidence ... to commit the offense."
A call placed Thursday to Baker's court-appointed attorney was not immediately returned.
District Attorney James Gaither Jr., whose district includes Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties, told CNN he "absolutely" feels that justice was served, while adding that he wished "the law and the facts were more favorable to the state."
Gaither said it was unexpected when Elisa Baker chose to cooperate with authorities on a case that caused "confusion and outrage and real frustration" in the North Carolina community.
In a statement, he said that he agreed to the plea deal to avoid "the risk ... that Elisa Baker would avoid responsibility for her part in the death of Zahra."
"The probability was that without her cooperation, law enforcement would not locate Zahra's body," Gaither said. "The probability of a successful prosecution for first-degree murder was likewise very unlikely."
The district attorney said he had consulted with Emily Dietrich, the late girl's biological mother who lives in Australia. He said she was "pleased and satisfied" with the case's conclusion.
Court documents in the case show that Baker told authorities Zahra was killed two weeks before she was reported missing. Authorities found the fake ransom note at the home.
One criminal investigator testified at Thursday's hearing that Baker told authorities she found Zahra not breathing on September 24, 2010, according to WCNC.
Investigations have no "credible evidence" to suggest that anyone other than Elisa Baker was involved in Zahra's death, Gaither said in February.
CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
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