Former Patriots Running Back Sentenced To Life In Prison

Former NFL running back Cierre Wood on Tuesday was sentenced to life in prison in wake of the 2019 death of his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter, per the Associated Press.

The sentencing arrived roughly four months after Wood pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and felony child abuse, per the AP, citing court records.

The 33-year-old will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years of the murder charge, and he was ordered to serve between 28 months and six years for the child abuse charge. Wood must serve the sentences consecutively.

A Notre Dame product, Wood broke into the NFL with the Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2013. Houston released Wood in October of that year for unspecified violations of team rules, and he was signed to New England's practice squad a few weeks later. Wood was with the Patriots organization for a little less than two months and proceeded to log similarly brief stints with the Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills.

Wood spent the final two years of his professional football career in Canada, where he spent time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.