Photo:Dignity Memorial
Dignity Memorial
A Kentucky man was sentenced to 50 years in prison last Thursday for the murder of his girlfriend’s daughter, 4-year-oldSerenity McKinney.
WDRB reportedthat Dakota Hill, 28, spoke at his sentencing and asked for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry for the way my actions have affected the lives of your family,” Hill said in court. “And I understand no amount of time will bring Serenity back but I hope that it will help you heal.”
Hill continued, “I have to learn to forgive myself on the long road ahead, but I also ask for your forgiveness as well, because, although some day I may be free again, I know that only forgiveness would truly set me free. I’m so sorry for the loss that I have caused to your family and I pray for you all in your time of grief and suffering.”
Last February, Serenity’s maternal grandfather reported the little girl missing after extended family members said they hadn’t seen her since Christmas Eve of 2020. The girl had spoken to her grandfather on the phone around Father’s Day in 2021, but did not provide her location. When police arrested Hill and Serenity’s mother, Catherine McKinney, in Kansas, authorities say theyrefused to cooperatewith investigators who were trying to locate the little girl.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Many of Serenity’s family members have attended court proceedings consistently. The child’s paternal grandmother, Melody Roller said no amount of punishment will constitute justice, WDRB reports.
“How do you put justice on a 4-year-old little girl that was murdered the way that she was? When I think about justice and my granddaughter, you just can’t put them together. It just doesn’t come together because she deserved more. She deserved to live her life,” Roller said.
Charleen Gadd, Serenity’s paternal great-grandmother, said outside the courthouse that she doesn’t believe Hill is sorry for what he did — despite his plea for forgiveness.
“He had no remorse. He didn’t show any tears. He didn’t. He read a statement probably somebody else wrote for him, is the way I feel," she said to WDRB.
According to Bullitt County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bailey Taylor, Hill will come up for parole after 20 years under Kentucky law, but the chances of being granted that parole are “slim and none.”
source: people.com
