"Ariz. father gets 14 years for abuse" by Brian Skoloff | Associated Press, June 07, 2013
PHOENIX — The father of a 10-year-old Arizona girl who authorities say died when another relative locked her in a small plastic trunk for hours was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted child abuse.
David Deal, 53, wasn’t charged in the July 2011 death of his daughter Ame Deal in Phoenix. Instead, he admitted abusing her on several occasions between March 2010 and July 2011, including at least once stuffing her into the trunk and tossing it into a pool as punishment.
Authorities say Ame Deal died after a man who is married to the girl’s cousin padlocked her in the same trunk as discipline for having stolen Popsicles. She was left in the box overnight and found dead the next morning.
David Deal also was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation for possession of marijuana.
Investigators say family members in the home abused the girl from 2005 until her death by locking her in the trunk, described as a footlocker that was less than 3 feet long, less than a foot wide and a foot deep.
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