Former NFL offensive lineman Cierre Wood was sentenced to life in prison following the death of his girlfriend's five-year-old daughter, La'Rayah Davis, in April 2019.
Davis died of blunt force trauma on April 9, 2019, according to the Las Vegas coroner. Protector The autopsy found that Davis had “20 freshly fractured ribs, internal bleeding, a shattered liver, and bruising to her heart, diaphragm, and connective tissue at the time of her death.”
Wood, who played in both the NFL and the Canadian Football League, reached a deal with prosecutors after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in April.
For murder, the 33-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 10 years. Wood was ordered to serve 28 months to six years for child abuse. The sentences will be served consecutively, meaning they will run one after the other rather than be combined, which would lengthen the prison term.
Wood entered an Alford plea, which allows defendants to formally admit guilt in a court of law while pleading not guilty. In exchange, prosecutors dropped additional felony child abuse charges they had initially filed against Wood.
Wood's girlfriend and the child's mother, Amy Taylor, 31, also reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
Before being drafted by the NFL, Wood played college football at the University of Notre Dame, where he played with the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills, and later with the Montreal Alouettes of Canada.