A man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to murder in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl.
Aaron Holdsworth, 28,
was sentenced to 15-years-to-life in prison, 10TV's Patrick Bell reported.
Holdsworth beat and strangled Reina Patterson in June. He was the boyfriend of Patterson's mother, Bell reported.
Patterson's father, Jarrod Patterson said that in June, hospital staff kept the little girl alive long enough for
her organs to be donated to two other children.
"When it's my time to leave this world, I won't be scared because I will get to hear her say 'Dad, Dad, Dad' again like I used to all the time," Jarrod Patterson said. "Now she's God's playmate. Reina has no more hurt, no more pain, only joy and happiness."
The Patterson family said they were satisfied with the sentence, but nothing will bring their little girl back, Bell reported.
"Today is not about Aaron Holdsworth, it's not about anybody in this courtroom, it's about justice for my daughter, Reina," Jarrod Patterson said. "She'll never be forgotten. Not by anybody who has ever met her."
Holdsworth was already serving a three-year prison sentence for an unrelated crime. He will not be eligible for parole until 2028.
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