12-year sentence for toddler killing

A 35-year-old man was yesterday sentenced to 12 years in prison for beating his adoptive daughter to death for wetting the bed.

Troy Sweeting battered three-year-old Jennifer Pinder with a leather strap and a PVC pipe when he flew into a rage, jurors found when they convicted him of manslaughter in the child’s death on August 16.

Justice Roy Jones handed down the sentence.

Prosecutors alleged that Sweeting inflicted the injuries on February 21, 2007 when his wife, Rosetta, left the toddler in his care. The child died in the Intensive Care Unit of the Princess Margaret Hospital on February 25, 2007.

The family officially adopted the child from Mrs. Sweeting’s terminally ill sister, Lisa Cruz, in December 2006.

In an interview with police, Sweeting admitted to beating the little girl because she was “stubborn and peed the bed”.

At trial, Mr. Sweeting said he made those admissions following threats from police and he blamed his wife for the child’s injuries.

Police also charged Mrs. Sweeting in connection with the child’s death but prosecutors withdrew the charges against her before the trial began.

Mrs. Sweeting  testified that her niece was in good health when she left home.

She claimed that the child’s skin was discolored with purplish black bruises when she returned.

Sweeting’s lawyer Raymond Rolle told The Nassau Guardian that he intended to appeal the conviction.

Anthony Delaney and Charles Newbold testified.