LAS VEGAS — A former professional football player was sentenced to prison Tuesday for the April 2019 murder of his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter at their Las Vegas apartment.
The sentence came after former NFL and Canadian Football League running back Sierre Wood reached an agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and felony child abuse in April, according to court records.
Wood, 33, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years for murder.
Clark County District Court Judge Jacqueline Bruce also imposed a sentence of 28 months to 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 originally filed against Wood.
He entered what’s known as an “Alford plea,” a plea that allows a defendant to formally plead guilty in a criminal trial and still maintain their innocence.
The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment to his lawyer on Tuesday.
Wood played at Notre Dame before briefly playing for three NFL teams and the Montreal Alouettes in Canada.
The child’s mother, Amy Taylor, 31, also pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder and felony child abuse charges as part of a deal with prosecutors, according to court records.
The Las Vegas coroner’s office said the girl, named LaRaya Davis, died on April 9, 2019, from blunt force trauma.
