LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former professional football player was sentenced Tuesday to prison for his April 2019 death. his girlfriend’s 5 year old daughter in his Las Vegas apartment.
The sentencing came after former NFL and Canadian Football League running back Cierre Wood reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder and child abuse, court records show.
Wood, 33, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years on the murder charge. Clark County District Court Judge Jacqueline Bluth also ordered him to serve between 28 months and six years on 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 initially filed against Wood. He entered what is known as an Alford plea, a formal admission of guilt in a criminal court that allows the defendant to still plead innocence.
The Associated Press emailed his lawyer seeking comment Tuesday.
Wood played for the University of Notre Dame before brief stints in the NFL 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 child abuse as part of a deal with prosecutors.
The medical examiner’s office in Las Vegas said the child, La’Rayah Davis, died on April 9, 2019, from blunt force injuries.
