Dad Who Claimed He Beat Toddler to ‘Make Her Gay’ Sentenced in Horrific Murder

A 23-year-old Michigan man, whose own attorney said he was “deranged,” could spend up to 40 years in prison for beating his 2-year-old daughter to death in an attempt to “toughen her up” and “make her gay” so she would avoid men like him.

Genesse Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farrah on Monday ordered the defendant, Donovan Lamar Haynes, 23, to prison for a term of 18 years, 9 months to 40 years in jail, MLive/The Flint Journal reports. He was also sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for first-degree child-abuse. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Farrah called the allegations against Haynes “astonishing” and among the most unconscionable of any he’s heard during his 16 years on the bench. In June, Haynes pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the July 2011 beating death of the toddler, Ti’Airra Woodward.

Elbert Hatchett, who represented Haynes, said he had no “sympathy” for his client.

“This case … defies reason, logic, common sense … Hopefully, Judge,” Hatchett said, directing his remarks to Farrah, “he will repent.”

The horrific details of the abuse inflicted on the girl included adult human bite marks and a lacerated liver that appeared to have resulted from blows to the abdomen and caused her death, authorities said at the time. Haynes reportedly admitted that he bit his daughter on the leg after she wet the bed.

By agreeing to the plea deal, Haynes avoided what his attorney called a near certainty of conviction on first-degree murder and torture charges, which would have carried a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Before sentencing Haynes, Farrah turned down his request to withdraw his no-contest plea, reportedly because he thought his attorney could have made a deal with prosecutors that would have resulted in less prison time.

Farrah declined.