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GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge has sentenced a man to death for the killing of a 5-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and hanged with the use of her socks.
Local news organizations report that 32-year-old Alberto Julio Garcia was sentenced Wednesday for the 2014 killing of Ja'Naya Thompson.
Garcia had pleaded guilty to capital murder on Jan. 18.
Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson could have sentenced Garcia to the death penalty or to life without parole.
The child's body was found in an abandoned trailer in July 2014.
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