A Fayette County judge on Tuesday granted a new trial to a woman who was imprisoned for starving her young daughter to death. Andrea Dusha, who has been free on bail while an appeal of her conviction is pending, appeared in court expecting a hearing. Instead Fayette County Common Pleas Judge Linda R. Cordaro took no testimony and ruled from the bench. Cordaro ordered a new trial, just as she did with Michael Wright, Dusha’s former partner and the toddler’s father, who also served time in prison in connection with the girl’s death. “I’m going to grant the same relief … as I did in Commonwealth v. Michael Wright,” the judge said. “The defendant is granted a new trial.” Rob Perkins, Dusha’s defense attorney, spoke positively about the development. “We’re not all the way there, but this was a necessary step in the right direction,” Perkins said. He said his client is in a good mental space. “I think relief is an appropriate word. She’s been through hell. She’s spent 10 years in state prison for murdering her daughter. She’s innocent of homicide so there’s a lot of emotions,” Perkins said. ”She’s home now, she’s able to see her sons and trying to reestablish her life after 10 years where she didn’t have the opportunity to be outside and be with her family.” Both Wright, 41, and Dusha, 35, were convicted of third-degree murder for the March 2016 death of their daughter, Lydia Wright. She was 23 months old. At the time, Dr. Cyril Wecht, who performed the autopsy, ruled the cause of death to be malnutrition and dehydration, and the manner of death homicide. Wecht, who died last year, was a renowned forensic pathologist and the longtime Allegheny County coroner. He wrote in his report that Lydia weighed only 10 pounds at death. However, in 2022, Wecht sent an email to Wright’s appellate attorney, recanting the weight of the child. Wecht said he made a mistake. Wright’s attorney retained another forensic pathologist, Dr. Jennifer Hammers, who found Lydia must have weighed more than 10 pounds. She ruled Lydia died of natural causes. Based on that information, Wright was given a new trial. The state Attorney General’s Office, which took over the prosecution, withdrew the homicide count and allowed Wright to plead guilty to endangering the welfare of a child. He was released after having served about seven years in prison. Based on Wecht’s retraction of the weight, Dusha also appealed. However, the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office has said it still believes she is guilty of homicide. Investigators said Dusha and Wright had a history of drug problems and described their home as squalid. Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at [email protected].