WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A northeastern Pennsylvania man convicted of killing his girlfriend's 1-year-old daughter 2 1/2 years ago has been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.
Jurors in Luzerne County convicted 37-year-old Lamont Cherry of Wilkes-Barre of third-degree murder in October in the May 2009 death of Zalayia McCloe.
Judge Tina Polachek Gartley imposed the maximum sentence Wednesday after hearing tearful testimony from the girl's relatives.
The judge said the penalty was "just not enough but it's all that I can do."
Prosecutors said Cherry shook and beat the toddler while she was in his care. He denied causing the injuries and said they were the result of a fall.
Cherry did not speak during the sentencing, and as he was led from the courthouse said only that he "got robbed."
