WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita, Kansas, man has been convicted of murder and child abuse in the 2015 death of her then-girlfriend’s 17-month-old daughter.
A Sedgwick County jury found 22-year-old Michael Ross guilty of second-degree intentional murder and the alternative first-degree murder charge.
The District Attorney’s office says in a statement that a judge now is required to sentence Ross on the first-degree murder conviction because it’s the most severe.
Grace Harris died at a hospital in November 2015. A coroner determined she died of blunt-force trauma to her head and neck. Police said hospital staff found bruises and bite marks on the girl’s body, swelling and bleeding of her brain and a fractured leg.
Ross has previously told police that the child sustained the injuries in a fall.