Dad Gets 20-30 Years For Killing Daughter With Baseball Bat
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - A psychologist has been sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison for the baseball bat beating death of his sleeping 20-year-old daughter at their Michigan home.
Robert Kelly of Oxford was sentenced Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac. He pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in exchange for the dropping of a first-degree murder charge.
Kelly, 53, wept upon entering the court and again sobbed while apologizing to family members, but offered no explanation for his actions.
"I wish I could answer the question that would lead someone to do what I've done," Kelly said in court. "I can't understand and I can only say if someone you care about displays unusual characteristics ... get help for that person. If I had gotten help, I believe I could have avoided taking Megan's life."
Authorities say Kelly attacked Megan Roberts with a baseball bat on May 9, 2011, then went to the Oxford police station and confessed.
Defense lawyer Sanford Schulman said earlier that he didn't know why Kelly killed his daughter, adding "it's obviously a mental health issue."
Schulman said Kelly had been on Xanax and wrote a suicide note. "He snapped. It's a vague memory," Schulman said.
Roberts, who was a student at Oakland Community College, fell into a coma and died after being taken off life support on July 27.
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