Tacoma man gets 18 years for squeezing 2-year-old daughter to death: 'She was my world'

TACOMA (AP) -- A Tacoma man who earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for squeezing his 2-year-old daughter to death during a scheduled visitation has been sentenced to more than 18 years in prison.

The News Tribune reports http://is.gd/EAQG3V that 27-year-old Salvador Orozco-Sanchez read a lengthy statement at his sentencing Friday in Pierce County Superior Court, complaining about his wife's treatment of him and saying he grew up poor.

Ten minutes into the statement, a sister-in-law shouted at him, asking why he killed the child. He spoke for another 15 minutes but didn't address why he killed little Daveena Sanchez on Feb. 12, 2014.

Authorities concluded he was upset because his wife was leaving him.

The News Tribune said he described his daughter as the light of his life and his best friend. “She was my world,” Orozco-Sanchez said.

“I never meant to do any of this,” Orozco-Sanchez said, according to the News Tribune. “In the end, I’m not going to be with my daughter until I die. Until then, I’m stuck here, suffering.”

According to the prosecutors, in January 2014, Sanchez-Orozco became distraught because his wife wanted a separation. He attempted to  hang himself with a dog leash, but his wife called 911. He was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, but was released the next day.

The wife moved to her parents' home in Graham with their daughter, and occasionally allowed Sanchez-Orozco to babysit their daughter.

On Feb. 11, 2014, Sanchez-Orozco drove to the home in Graham and became upset when he discovered a male friend of his wife there. His wife allowed Sanchez-Orozco to spend the day with their daughter.

He took her to his Tacoma apartment, sat the toddler on his lap, wrapped his arms around her and squeezed until she stopped breathing, police said. Then he called 911 and told the operator he had killed his daughter. He again wrapped a dog leash around his neck, but again failed to kill himself.

When deputies arrived, he had the leash around his neck and the 2-year-old girl was dead. He had written a suicide note saying he was going to kill himself and "take my daughter with me."