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Ogden • A man who admitted that he killed his girlfriend's baby daughter last year by punching her "with everything I had" was sentenced to prison Wednesday for up to life.
Adam Joseph Barney, 24, of Ogden, had pleaded guilty to first-degree felony aggravated murder in the Aug. 25 death of 14-month-old Kenzie Rose La Buy.
In exchange for that plea, prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty.
Instead, prosecutors recommended that 2nd District Judge W. Brent West sentence Barney to 25 years to life in prison.
The judge did so, telling Barney: "This just seems to me to be a wasteful shameful act that can't be explained. I just shake my head and shed a tear that I have to sentence someone for brutalizing and attacking a minor child."
The girl's father, James La Buy, told the court of the sentence, "It's never going to be enough in my eyes, but it's the best the court system can do."
Outside of court, La Buy said: "[Barney is] going to have to answer to a higher power in the end."
Barney did not speak in court. But his defense attorney, James Retallick, told the judge, "This is going to be a burden that he's going to have to carry for the rest of his life."
Retallick said that Barney pleaded guilty rather than go to trial to spare the victims further pain.
The child's mother, Kaci Rupert, was not present for the sentencing hearing.
La Buy, who lives in Washington state, said outside of court that he was trying to gain primary custody of Kenzie at the time of her death because Rupert, his ex-fiancee, was refusing his requests to see his daughter.
La Buy's sister, Liz Evans, said the custody effort was delayed because she and her brother knew Rupert was somewhere in the Ogden area but were unable to track down her exact location. She said the girl's mother had left with Kenzie, who was LaBuy's only child, the day after the baby's birthday in May 2014.
Evans, pointing out that Kenzie would have turned 2 on May 29, said, "We should be planning her birthday. Adam took all of that [away]."
At a January preliminary hearing, Ogden police Detective Darren Goff testified that Barney told him some of the bruising on Kenzie was accidental, but other injuries — including the punch to the stomach that caused internal bleeding — were inflicted on purpose.
Goff testified that Barney said he was taking a shower with Kenzie at the Ogden motel where they were staying when he slipped and fell and landed on the girl with his fist. He said he then struck the child in the stomach, "and that was not an accident," the detective said.
Barney also told detectives, Goff said, that after he punched Kenzie, he wrapped her in a towel and squeezed her tightly until she stopped crying. He also allegedly told police he was frustrated that Kenzie was crying and his girlfriend's other two children were misbehaving and that the motel room was dirty.
Barney said he then went walking with the three children and Kenzie was lethargic, according to police.
When they returned to the motel, Barney realized the child was dead and called the girl's mother, who told him to call 911, according to charging documents.
An autopsy performed at the Utah State Medical Examiner's office showed Kenzie died of internal hemorrhaging caused by blunt force trauma to her abdomen.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC