A teenager from Texas was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for killing his 6-year-old girl neighbor and wrapping her in a tarp before leaving her body on the side of a road, Reuters reported.
Tyler Lane Holder, now 18, but 17 at the time of the murder in the Fort Worth area, reached a deal with prosecutors for the sentence, the Tarrant County District Attorney's office told Reuters.
Holder pleaded guilty to the murder of Alanna Gallagher, who was found bound in duct tape with a plastic bag wrapped around her head. DNA evidence linked him to the crime, prosecutors said.
He also pleaded guilty to arson for settling the home of the victim's family on fire three weeks after her body was found and with attempted capital murder for shooting at a police officer trying to arrest him, according to SF Gate.
The girl's mother, Laura Gallagher, said in a statement in court: "Our house is emptier, and quieter and sadder. We carry around a heavy hard stone of pain where our hearts used to be. And it's your fault."
She told him that it was good he was going to prison so that he won't be able to hurt other children. "But it does not repay for what you have done. It does not bring her back to us," she said.
Holder could not be charged with capital murder, which brings the possibility of the death penalty, because he was a minor when the crime was committed. He must be in prison for at least 50 years before he can be eligible for parole.
