Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; Facebook; Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
A former NFL player who beat his girlfriend’s daughter to death after making her exercise because he claimed the 5-year-old was “chunky” received a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
La’Rayah Davis, 5, died in April 2019 after being taken to a Las Vegas hospital with at least 100 bruises, including 20 broken ribs and a laceration to her liver that authorities believe killed her, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and News 3 reported at the time.
Former NFL running back Cierre Wood, who was in a relationship with La’Rayah’s mother at the time, was arrested and charged with murder, News 3 reported at the time.
In April, Wood, who starred at the University of Notre Dame before his professional career, took an Alford plea, in which the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict, on a charge of second-degree murder and a charge of child abuse, the Associated Press reported, citing a copy of the plea agreement.
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Amy Taylor — who was La’Rayah’s mother and Wood’s girlfriend — also pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder and felony child abuse as part of a deal with prosecutors, per the Associated Press and the Review-Journal.
An investigation into La’Rayah’s death revealed details of the extensive abuse — mental and physical — the girl suffered prior to her death.
Wood would put the child through intensive workouts as a form of punishment, News 3 and the Review-Journal previously reported, citing an arrest report.
He would make her run sprints in the apartment and do sit-ups and wall squats, police said shortly after her death, per News 3.
Wood reportedly claimed he was “trying to get her on the right path due to her being chunky,” police said, per News 3 and the Review-Journal.
On the day of her death, Wood made the child do sit-ups after she reportedly did not learn her letters and numbers, he told police, per the Review-Journal.
The outlet reported that Wood claimed La’Rayah hit her head after she fell backwards, and when authorities responded to his 911 call, they found her body cold and stiff, per police.
Wood’s lawyer Thomas Ericsson claimed it was Taylor who abused the child and Wood was not at home when the abuse took place, per the Review-Journal.
Taylor was sentenced in July to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murder charge and eight to 20 years on the abuse charge, the outlet reported.
