A brawl broke out in a courtroom in Detroit, Mich. last Thursday when a mourning father lashed out at the convicted killer of his 3-year-old daughter. Dwayne Smith was in the courtroom to give a victim impact statement before the sentencing of Jasmine Gordon, the mother of the girl, and her boyfriend Clifford Thomas, both of whom were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the girl's death earlier this month. But before he delivered his statement, Smith attacked Thomas and punched him in the head, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Video footage recorded by the courtroom cameras shows officers from Wayne County Sheriff's Office trying to separate the pair as Smith and Thomas are heard yelling at each other before officers usher Thomas out of the room.
Smith's daughter, Jamila, died in September last year, after she was rushed to the hospital by Gordon and Thomas when they found that she had stopped breathing, according to Daily Mail.
The couple claimed that the toddler had hit her head and fell unconscious, but authorities found injuries consistent with physical abuse and the girl's death was ruled a homicide.
Gordon, 25, was handed down a prison sentence of seven to 15 years for involuntary manslaughter and 14 to 25 years for first-degree child abuse for aiding and abetting the crime. Both sentences will be served at the same time.
Thomas, 34, was sentenced to six to 15 years behind bars for the involuntary manslaughter charge and one to two years for resisting and obstructing a police officer.
