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 the murder charge. Clark County District Judge Jacqueline Bruce also sentenced him to 28 months to six years in prison on the child abuse charge. Wood must serve the sentences consecutively.
According to a copy of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the remaining felony child abuse charges they originally filed against Wood. Wood entered an “Alford plea,” a formal admission of guilt in a criminal trial that allows a defendant to 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.
