MACCLENNY, Fla. – A 31-year-old ex-convict accused of killing a Baker County teenager pleaded guilty on Monday to first-degree murder and sexual battery.
Prosecutors said Brock Morris killed 16-year-old Hope Norman and buried her body in a cow pasture near Glen St. Mary in early June, one day after she was reported missing.
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Authorities said Morris was friends with Norman's uncle and the girl was visiting Morris' home when she disappeared.
Baker County Sheriff Joey Dobson said that after Morris failed a lie-detector test, he led deputies to the girl's body.
Morris admitted sexually molesting the girl before strangling her and burying her on property not far from her home.
Morris had 17 previous arrests for various offenses. According to his arrest report, Morris told detectives "he needed to be in prison and wouldn't mind if he died for what he had done to Hope."
Channel 4's Dan Leveton reported that Morris agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison with no parole.
"I want to know why he took my Hope from me," the victim's aunt told Judge Phyllis Rosier during a sentencing hearing. "She didn't do anything wrong -- not to him. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
After the hearing, Rosier sentenced Morris to life in prison with no possibility of parole and without opportunity to appeal the court's decision.
The state attorney said he agreed to allow Morris to have life in prison instead of the death penalty because it was something the victim's family requested.
"The parents both felt that they would rather know that this man was in prison forever, where they hope he has a long and miserable life, than go forward with what the court system can do if you seek the death penalty and have the uncertainty of that for years and years," he said.
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