A man accused of stabbing to death his 7-year-old niece has abandoned his quest to have his life sentence overturned.
The Effingham Daily News reports Justin DeRyke withdrew his motion after agreeing that the life sentence he got in March could be imposed given the case’s circumstances and other provisions of the law.
DeRyke was accused of killing Willow Long in September of last year near her home. He pleaded guilty in March to first-degree murder. The girl’s mother, Ciara DeRyke, was sentenced to 120 days in jail in January after pleading guilty to charges that she lied to police.