Man jailed for life after killing little girl, 3, who had just wondered into his yard to play in pool

A southeast Missouri man was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for abducting and killing his 3-year-old neighbor girl in 2011. Shawn Morgan, of Senath, was handed his sentenced after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, armed criminal action and child kidnapping. He had previously been scheduled to go to trial in August. Breeann Rodriguez went missing August 6, 2011, while riding a small pink bicycle with training wheels near her home. Her disappearance set off a frantic search. Residents of Senath, a town of 1,600 residents near the Arkansas border, joined the FBI, Missouri State Highway Patrol and local police in the search. Her body was found on the banks of a drainage ditch 10 days later, about eight miles outside of the small community. Morgan was arrested three days before the body was found. According to a probable cause statement, he told police he suffocated the girl with a white plastic trash bag after finding her on the ladder of his above-ground backyard swimming pool. He said he put the body in the trash bag, drove to a floodway outside of town and threw the bag over a railing into the ditch.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2577928/Man-jailed-life-killing-little-girl-3-just-wondered-yard-play-pool.html