COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of murdering a 3-year-old girl.
The Gazette reports that an El Paso County jury on Tuesday convicted 30-year-old David Lake in the 2017 death of Bella Rich.
Lake had been dating Bella’s mother at the time of the child’s death.
An autopsy determined that the girl died after being hit in the abdomen by a blunt object.
Prosecutors said that Lake, a Fountain resident, beat Bella in frustration after complaining that her mother was too lenient with the child.