Former NFL player sentenced for abusing and killing girlfriend’s daughter
08/15/2024 1:12 pm PDT
LAS VEGAS (TCN) -- A former professional football player was sentenced this week for abusing and killing his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter in 2019.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Cierre Wood entered an Alford plea, which means maintained his innocence but acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him, on Tuesday, Aug. 13, on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse, neglect, or endangerment. The Clark County judge sentenced Wood to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years for the murder charge. He was also sentenced to 28 to 72 months behind bars for abuse and is required to cover the cost of the funeral. The two terms will run consecutively.
Court records show Wood was initially indicted on 21 charges, including 19 counts of child abuse, for the death of La’Rayah Davis. Davis' mother, Amy Taylor, pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years and a minimum of eight to 20 years for abuse.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Davis died April 9, 2019. Wood reportedly noticed she was unresponsive, so he called 911 and performed CPR on her. She had "at least 100" bruises on different parts of her body, as well as 20 broken ribs, a lacerated liver, and other injuries.
Clark County prosecutors reportedly argued Davis' injuries "indicate a pattern of physical abuse of being hit, of being punched, of being forced to endure things that are just beyond words."
Wood reportedly forced the girl to exercise, including doing sit-ups and running laps, because he wanted to make sure she was "on the right path due to her being 'chunky.'"
Taylor reportedly told investigators that she came home from work one day and found her daughter "mutilated" after leaving her with Wood. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Taylor sat on and spanked her daughter as punishment.
Wood played college football at Notre Dame as a running back and spent time with the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans in his NFL career. The Associated Press reports he also played for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.
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