Dad sentenced in Michigan's "Baby Kate" disappearance
LUDINGTON, Mich. -- A northern Michigan man convicted of second-degree murder in the disappearance of his 4-month-old daughter has been sentenced to 19 to 45 years in prison.
Sean Phillips learned his punishment on Friday. A jury in October found him guilty of killing Katherine Phillips, known as “Baby Kate.” The girl disappeared five years ago in the Ludington area about 80 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, but her body has never been found.
Prosecutors said Phillips had a turbulent relationship with Kate’s mother and didn’t want the baby.
Kate “was a financial burden and an impediment to the defendant’s lifestyle,” Assistant Attorney General Donna Pendergast told jurors at his trial.
A key piece of evidence was a note written to Kate’s mother, Ariel Courtland, by Phillips. He described how in a fit of anger Kate somehow was thrown from her car seat when he yanked the seat.
He wrote that he “held her for a long time” and that she was in a “peaceful place.” He didn’t elaborate.
Phillips did not testify during the trial. His lawyer has said that there isn’t proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Kate was killed.
The 27-year-old Phillips already was serving a 10-year prison sentence for unlawful imprisonment in the infant’s disappearance.