Former NFL Player Cierre Woods Meets Fate With Life Imprisonment for Murdering Gf’s 5-Year-Old Daughter La’Ryah
A former NFL running back Cierre Woods was sentenced to jail on Tuesday for the April 2019 killing of his girlfriend's five-year-old daughter at his Las Vegas residence.
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Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of death and abuse.
Cierre Wood, a former NFL and CFL running back, has been sentenced to several years in jail for killing his then-girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter in 2019.
Cierre Wood, who previously played in the Canadian Football League, agreed with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder and criminal child abuse, according to court documents.
Wood, 33, was sentenced to life in prison with the prospect of release after 10 years on the murder charge. Judge Jacqueline Bluth also sentenced him to serve a sentence of 28 months to six years for child abuse. He must serve his sentences concurrently.
According to a document of the plea bargain, prosecutors dropped the remaining felony counts of child abuse that they had originally filed against Wood. He took an Alford plea, which is a formal acknowledgment of guilt in criminal court that permits the defendant to maintain their innocence.
According to court documents, the kid's mother, Amy Taylor, 31, pled guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder and felony child abuse as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
According to the coroner's office in Las Vegas, the kid, La'Ryah Davis, died from blunt force injuries on April 9, 2019. The autopsy revealed that she had 20 freshly fractured ribs, internal hemorrhage, a lacerated liver, and bruising on her heart, diaphragm, and connective tissue at the time of her death.
Taylor said she sat on her kid while punishing her. Wood claimed he utilized exercise to punish La'Ryah, and she fell and struck her head while performing sit-ups. He said to police that he was "trying to get her on the right path due to her being chunky."
La'Ryah spent time living with her mother in Las Vegas and her father, Daunan Davis, in California.
“She had so many people that she touched, and she’s only five. Her not to be alive and how much life she had, that’s the tragic thing about it,” Danaun Davis told NBC 3 News that his daughter's death was devastating because of how much life she had.
Wood attended the University of Notre Dame before making brief NFL appearances with the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills. He also played for the Montreal Alouettes of Canada.
Wood became a Fighting Irish sensation in his sophomore season, rushing for 1,102 yards and nine touchdowns on 217 touches, both career highs.
The next season, he shared carries with Theo Riddick, but he chose to forego his final year of college and join the NFL Draft.
He joined the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2013 but was terminated in October for breaching team rules after only three games. He later played two games with the New England Patriots.
In 2015, he was added to the Buffalo Bills' active roster, however, he tore his ACL, ending his season and NFL career.
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