OSWEGO, N.Y. (AP) — A 29-year-old central New York man is set to be sentenced for murdering his 11-year-old stepsister, who lived in filth and was starved by her parents.
Alan Jones of Palermo was convicted in September of killing Erin Maxwell. He faces a maximum of 25 years to life in state prison at sentencing Friday morning.
Jones' defense attorney had argued Erin Maxwell accidentally hanged herself while acting out a scene from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies in her bedroom on Aug. 29, 2008. Prosecutors said Jones strangled the girl.
Authorities say the family's home was littered with piles of feces from the more than 100 cats living there. Maxwell's parents were previously convicted on multiple child endangerment charges. Each was sentenced to two years in jail.
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