Prosecutors agreed to a plea deal Wednesday for a 14-year-old who admitted to beating a 5-year-old boy to death with a bowling ball. The teen was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, the teen hit Sida Osman multiple times and that, before the final strike, he straddled the boy's body before delivering a final blow likened to "spiking a football."
Investigators said the teen then tried to clean his fingerprints off of the ball before he tossed it into a neighbor's yard.
As the Osman family realized the 5-year-old was missing, they began a frantic search of the area. Meanwhile, police said the teen brought friends over to see the boy's body.
The teen, whose name has not been released due to his age and his status as a juvenile, was sentenced to 23 years in prison. At least the first two years of his sentence will be spent in the juvenile justice system before he is expected to be sent to a state prison.
In court, the teen expressed regret as he addressed the victim's family with tears in his eyes.
"I just want to tell his family I am sorry," the teen said.
Sida Osman's mother, whose family moved to North Texas to escape violence in Somalia, spoke through a translator when she took the witness stand.
"A part of our family is missing," she said through tears. "We miss him every day. Why did he kill him? He's only 5 years old."
Prior to the trial, during his confession, the teen said he struck the boy because he had become irritated by him.
