Father Who Killed Baby Girl Was “Ticking Time Bomb”: Judge

A central Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in the death of his infant daughter two years ago.

The (Lancaster) Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era says Judge Donald Totaro called 25-year-old William Moore Jr. a “ticking time bomb” who went off.

"Now you will have to live with that for the rest of your life," said Judge Totaro.

Moore pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder in exchange for the sentence, the maximum allowed for the charge.

He apologized Tuesday to the victim's relatives, saying he “never stopped loving them.”

"I'm sorry to the family of my daughter," Moore said in court. "I never stopped loving them. I'm always going to love them, no matter where they go in life. I thought drugs were everything to me.”

Prosecutors said Moore became frustrated by the crying of 5-month-old Judge Donald Totaro and smothered her in April 2011.

Defense attorney Patricia Spotts cited her client's mental health issues. She also said he was also under the influence of drugs that day and wasn't aware that his daughter had died.

"Everybody knows you don't put a child in bed with you when you're sleeping," Spotts said. "He wasn't even aware that his daughter had died beside him."

Moore recently was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, according to the paper.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us