LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3) -- A man who pleaded guilty to killing a local toddler will spend the rest of his life in prison.
William Marshall entered his plea in August to first-degree murder in the death of Shia Travis, 21 months. Shia was sexually assaulted and left in a Dumpster in 2009, according to the Clark County coroner's report.
At Marshall's request, his attorney called into question the disturbing details of the 21-month-old child being raped.
"I would never took a deal if it were a case of a sexual assault,” Marshall said in court. “I would have taken it to court.”
The coroner's report, however, told a very different story.
Marshall was the boyfriend of the child's mother, Darrean Williams.
Police say Marshall was picked up in Arizona a few days after Shia was discovered.
Two men looking for cans found the child's lifeless body wrapped in a pillow case a Dumpster behind Marshall's apartment complex.
Not only did the autopsy show signs of sexual abuse, she was also beaten. Medical investigators found evidence of blunt force trauma to Shia's head.
A criminal complaint also detailed some of her hair found in an emptied-out section of the freezer.
Williams was found with Marshall in Arizona. Williams told police she had gone there to earn money and left the baby under his care.
According to her sister, she was working there as a prostitute.
