TIOGA, N.Y. (AP) - A 26-year-old man has admitted killing his 8-month-old daughter and tossing her into a swampy upstate New York pond while he was impaired by drugs.
Cody Franciscovich pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Tioga County Court on Friday and is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing baby Ruby in June 2019. He had originally been charged with second-degree murder, which carries a prison term of 25 years to life.
Tioga County District Attorney Kirk Martin announced the guilty plea on Tuesday. He said Franciscovich had raised the defenses of intoxication and delusions due to taking LSD the night before Ruby’s death. With the plea, Franciscovitch agreed to withdraw his defenses and waive his right to appeal by admitting he had intentionally tried to hurt the baby, Martin said in a news release.
Franciscovich had been staying at a motel in the town of Tioga with Ruby’s mother and two other children. After he threw Ruby into the pond, he was found walking along the road naked about a half-mile away.
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