D'Andre Lane denied abusing and killing his two-year-old daughter, said there was no evidence of the charges and called the judge a liar after he was sentenced today to mandatory life in prison without parole in the child's death.
Banika Jones, Bianca Jones' mother, also spoke, supporting Lane's innocence.
She said authorities, "Gave us nothing. They cheated us. And never looked for my daughter."
"They never gave us justice,"Jones said, before Lane's sentencing in front Wayne County circuit court Judge Vonda Evans.
Lane, 33, was found guilty of murder and first-degree child abuse in October in connection with the disappearance of his daughter. Though she has never been found, authorities have said she is presumed dead.
Lane called 911 at 9:45 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2011 and told dispatchers that he was carjacked by two men in the area of East Grand Boulevard and Brush Street. He said the alleged assailants drove away with his daughter who was strapped in car seat in the backseat of the car.
The Mercury Grand Marquis Lane was driving was found just blocks away, with the engine running and the doors open. The car seat was still in the car, but Bianca was gone.
Prosecutors said Lane disciplined Bianca with a stick after having a bathroom accident the night before her disappearance. They said he wrapped her body in a blanket and strapped into the car seat the next morning, but dumped her body before reporting the abduction.
Lane has maintained his innocence.
Copyright 2012 - Detroit Free Press
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
