Ex-NFL Running Back Sentenced to Life in Prison for Disturbing Murder Case

Former NFL running back Cierre Wood has been sentenced to life in prison following the April 2019 death of his girlfriend’s daughter, five-year-old La’Rayah Davis.

Davis died on April 9, 2019 of blunt force injuries, according to the Las Vegas coroner, The Guardian reported. The autopsy found that Davis had “20 newly broken ribs, internal bleeding, a lacerated liver, and bruises to her heart, diaphragm, and connective tissue at the time of her death.”

Wood, who played for both the NFL and the Canadian Football League, reached a deal with prosecutors after pleading guilty in April to second-degree murder and felony child abuse.

For the murder charge, the 33-year-old was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in 10 years. Wood was ordered to serve between 28 months and six years for the child abuse charge. The sentences will be served consecutively, meaning they will follow one another rather than be combined, lengthening the time served.

Wood entered an Alford plea, which allows defendants to formally admit their guilt in a court of law while still claiming innocence. In exchange, prosecutors dropped additional felony child abuse charges they’d initially filed against Wood.

Wood’s girlfriend and the child’s mother, 31-year-old Amy Taylor, also reached a deal with prosecutors which saw her plead guilty to second-degree murder and felony child abuse earlier this year.

Wood played college football with the University of Notre Dame before being drafted by the NFL, where he played with the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills . He went on to play for Canada’s Montreal Alouettes.