A St. Joseph man will spend 18-years in prison in connection with the 2014 death of a child.

Patrick Middlebrook was sentenced Monday by Judge Patrick Robb to serve an 18-year-sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections for felony for abuse/neglect of a child.  A jury found Middlebrook guilty in December.

Middlebrook and co-conspirator Jaspera Rainey were charged in 2014 in connection with the death of 23-month-old Jaliyah Blackmon, Rainey’s daughter. Investigators said Jaliyah received multiple injuries to the head and body that ultimately caused her death.  Emergency responders found the girl dead at Oak Ridge apartments in August of 2014 where Rainey and Middlebrook lived together.

A jury found Rainey guilty of felony abuse/neglect of a child earlier this month.  She is set for a sentencing hearing for April 18.