Texas man sentenced to life in stomping death of toddler

FORT WORTH, Texas – A Texas man convicted of beating and stomping his girlfriend’s baby daughter to death then burying her body has been sentenced to life in prison.

A Tarrant County jury sentenced 24-year-old Joshua Beard of Arlington on Monday. Beard was convicted of murder on Saturday in the 2014 death of 18-month-old Tylea Moore.

Prosecutors say Tylea died of blunt force trauma at the home Beard shared with the girl’s mother, Alexis Botello. They say an angry Beard at one point threw the child onto a bed with such force that she bounced off and landed on the floor, where he stomped on her.

Authorities say Tylea was buried underneath a rural bridge northwest of Fort Worth.

Botello awaits trial on charges that include capital murder.