Conviction Stands For Dad In Murder Of Missing 2-Year-Old Bianca Jones
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - The Michigan appeals court has affirmed the murder conviction of a Detroit man whose 2-year-old daughter has not been found.
The court says there was "sufficient circumstantial evidence" to support D'Andre Lane's convictions. He was charged with first-degree child abuse and murder committed during another felony.
In a 3-0 decision last week, the appeals court rejected challenges to evidence introduced at trial.
Lane claimed little Bianca Jones was abducted during a carjacking in December of 2011, a tragic story that led police and volunteers to scour Detroit's most depressed neighborhoods during the Christmas season. But Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb said an investigation revealed the carjacking never happened, and that Lane concocted the elaborate story to cover up his child's murder.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors painted Lane as an abusive father was obsessed with potty training his children. Prosecutors alleged Lane beat Bianca to death with a stick after wet herself, covered her body with a blanket and put her in her car seat. They said he then drove Bianca's siblings to school before dumping her body.
Police said a cadaver dog detected evidence in a closet at Lane's home.
Lane is serving a no-parole sentence.
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