Former NFL player Claus Wood, who killed his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter, learns his fate

Former NFL running back Cerce Wood could spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2019 death of his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter.

A Las Vegas judge on Tuesday sentenced Wood, 33, to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years on the murder charge. The judge also ordered Wood to serve between 28 months and six years in prison on a child abuse charge.

Wood played for the University of Notre Dame before having brief stints in the NFL with the Texans, Patriots, Seahawks and Bills. He also played for the Montreal Alouettes in Canada.

In April, Wood reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse.

According to a copy of the plea agreement obtained by the Associated Press, prosecutors dismissed the remaining felony child abuse charges they had initially filed against Wood.

Court records show the boy’s mother, Amy Taylor, 31, also pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder and child abuse as part of a deal with prosecutors.

Wood was arrested in Las Vegas on April 10, 2019, after subjecting Taylor’s infant daughter, La’Rayah Davis, to a workout that went wrong the day before.

The former professional athlete reportedly told police the girl was “chubby,” so he punished her by making her run around the apartment and do sit-ups and squats against the wall, a punishment he allegedly described as “learning through fun.”

Davis reportedly failed to finish the second round of sit-ups and fell backwards, hitting his head on the ground. He got up before collapsing.

The Las Vegas coroner’s office said Davis died from blunt force injuries. An autopsy revealed that Davis’ skull had multiple bruises, as well as numerous rib fractures, and that “liver laceration was the probable cause of death.”

The girl reportedly complained of chest pains days before she died after Taylor allegedly sat on her chest and stomach as punishment. Taylor also admitted that she “hit” Davis on the day she died due to her bad behavior.

Meanwhile, former Colts player Daniel Muir and his wife Kristen Muir are out on bail while facing charges stemming from the disappearance of their 14-year-old son, Bryson, whom they allegedly abused.

Two weeks after Bryson went missing on June 16, he was found safe with Muir’s parents at their home in Logansport, Indiana.

In an Indiana State Police probable cause affidavit obtained by Newsweek MagazineDaniel Muir allegedly told his wife’s brother, Cameron Wright, in a recorded phone call that he “spanked (Bryson) on the butt because he touched three little boys’ penises and asked them to touch his.”

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