Former Notre Dame football player Cierre Wood sentenced to life in prison
The story of the 2019 death of a 5-year-old girl in a Las Vegas apartment got some closure on Tuesday. Former Notre Dame running back Cierre Wood was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend’s child.
Wood pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder and felony child abuse. He was sentenced for life with possibility of parole after 10 years. The district court judge mandated Wood serve between 28 months and six years for the child abuse charge, too. The sentences are to be served consecutively, the judge said.
Wood’s girlfriend, Amy Taylor, pleaded guilty to the same charges earlier this year according to the Associated Press. Her child, La’Rayah Davis, died of blunt force injuries on April 9, 2019. The three had been living together in the Las Vegas apartment for less than two weeks before the murder, per the AP.
Wood was a U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant out of Santa Clara High School in California before arriving at Notre Dame. Sporting News rated him as the No. 10 player in the country in the recruiting class of 2009. Tom Lemming put him at No. 15 in his own rankings.
Wood went off for 2,612 rushing yards and 24 rushing touchdowns as a junior in high school to cement himself as one of the top players in the nation and to earn the attention of Notre Dame. He did not play a single down as a true freshman, though.
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Wood’s collegiate career got going with five starts as a sophomore. He ran for 603 yards and 3 touchdowns. He had the best years of his Notre Dame career as a junior when he ran for 1,112 yards and 9 touchdowns and added 27 receptions for 189 yards.
In all, Wood finished his career with 450 carries for 2,447 yards and 16 rushing scores. He has the eighth-most rushing yards in Notre Dame history.
Wood went undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft. He signed as a free agent with the Houston Texans, who released him on Oct. 21 for a violation of team rules. The New England Patriots picked him up and put him on the practice squad a couple weeks later before ultimately releasing him as well on Dec. 26.
Wood went through similar signings and releases with the Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills. He only rushed for 12 yards and caught one pass for -6 yards in his NFL career. He tried his luck in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but he did not have much success there either.
