‘Daddy killed me’: Indiana man gets 120 years for killing GF and daughter, 3, who dialed 911 before death
LAFAYETTE, INDIANA: A 28-year-old Indiana man named Devonta Roberts is sentenced to 120 years on Friday, August 12, for killing his three-year-old daughter Datoria, and his girlfriend, Victoria Moore. The incident took place last year on the night of July 5. Roberts confessed his crime in May to fatally shooting his girlfriend and daughter in a Romney Meadows apartment. Moore was reportedly holding the toddler when Roberts fired at least 22 shots at them with a pistol equipped with an extended magazine he was known to openly carry around the complex, WLFI reported.
Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Sean Persin ordered Roberts to serve 60 years on each of the two murder counts, then he added that the sentences will be consecutive for a total of 120 years in prison. With credit for good behavior, Roberts will have to serve 75% of that sentence which is 90 years and thus the chances of him getting released from prison are highly slim. Although Moore's family wanted the death penalty, Judge Persin said it is not possible since Roberts was not charged with capital murder.
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Police responded to the scene after Moore’s non-verbal 5-year-old son got help from neighbors. Moore was found dead on the kitchen floor, while Datoria told a police officer, “Daddy killed me,” before she died from blood loss at a hospital. “She did not die right away,” Jude Persin said in court, according to Journal and Courier. “She was alert. She was talking.” He said Devonta pleading guilty to two counts of murder spared the victims’ family from seeing police bodycam footage of the crime scene which he described as extremely heartbreaking.
"Heartbreaking to know she watched it, that she lived through the initial shots," Persin added. "Everyone is scrambling to save her. You ran," Persin said to Roberts. "You had the care and control of that child. It was your duty to protect that child." Roberts and Moore instead argued and fought that night. Moore was shot 17 times while her toddler daughter was shot five times.
Devonta has bipolar disorder and was receiving disability payments for a learning disability at the time of the slayings. Defense attorneys said they plan to appeal Friday’s sentence, reported WLFI. Roberts spoke to Moore's family, some of whom attended the hearing and apologized. "I spend every day wishing I could undo what I've done," Roberts said, reading from a sheet of paper with his statement. "I loved my daughter. I loved Victoria," he said. "I wish I was a better person. The guilt I carry will stay with me for the rest of my life," Roberts said. "I just want to say I am truly, truly sorry to the family of Victoria Moore."