A man living in a makeshift camp with a homeless 5-year-old Kansas girl and her father has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and rape in connection with the child’s death. The man, aged 26, admitted to suffocating the girl with a pillow in a tent in Topeka when he was alone with her. Doctors found injuries consistent with sexual assault, and DNA evidence pointed to the man.
The man's guilty plea means he will not face the death penalty due to evidence of an intellectual disability. He will be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 25 years, with the possibility of 50 years without parole.
