A former professional footballer was sentenced on Tuesday to prison in April 2019 his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter in his apartment in Las Vegas.
The sentence came after Cierre Wood, a former NFL and Canadian Football League running back, reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, court records show.
Wood, 33, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years for the murder. Clark County District Court Judge Jacqueline Bluth also ordered him to serve between 28 months and six years for the child abuse charge. He must serve the sentences consecutively.
According to a copy of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed the remaining felony child abuse charges they had originally filed against Wood. He entered what is known as an Alford plea, a formal admission of guilt in criminal court that allows a defendant to still maintain innocence.
The Associated Press emailed his attorney for comment Tuesday.
Wood played for the University of Notre Dame before brief NFL stints with three teams and the Montreal Alouettes in Canada.
Court records show the child’s mother, Amy Taylor, 31, also pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse as part of a deal with prosecutors.
The Las Vegas medical examiner said the child, La’Rayah Davis, died April 9, 2019, of blunt force injuries.