14 DAY TRIAL // Detroit dad D'Andre Lane has got life in prison without parole for the murder of two-year-old daughter Bianca Jones, after claiming she was abducted.
He prompted a massive response from police and the community when he stated his car had been hijacked, one year ago, with his daughter still in it.
A search party sent out to find the vehicle, but, when it was recovered, there was no sign of Bianca inside.
In October, 33-year-old Lane was convicted for child abuse and murder in the first degree. He was sentenced on Monday, December 3.
Prosecutors put forward the case that he had killed his daughter by beating her with a stick, when she wet herself. However, the child's body was never found.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans supported the notion that he was responsible for Bianca's alleged death.
“You controlled her dead body like a rag doll. ... You figured that a city plagued with violence, understaffed by police — who would care? But you were wrong,” she is quoted by Washington Post as saying.
“I did not murder my child. I did not abuse my child. My child is alive,” Lane responded in court. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and continues to advocate his innocence.
“Vonda, you’re a liar,” he burst out, addressing the judge.
Banika Jones, Bianca's mother, stands by him and supports his innocence.
“The justice system cheated us. […] I want the court to know they made a mistake, and I intend to correct it,” she says announcing they would appeal the decision.
One year yesterday, on December 3, 2011, Lane called the police claiming his car had been robbed at gunpoint, at 9.00 a.m. local time.
According to ABC 7, he admitted to spanking his daughter and beating her, believing that toddlers who are not properly potty trained and have accidents “should be physically punished.”
Officers tried to prove he killed her in their home, then covered her up in a blanket and put her in a car seat, driving off to Detroit's North End neighborhood, in the hope that the car would be stolen.
A cadaver dog detected the smell of decomposition in both the girl's room and the family vehicle, Daily Mail notes.