KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A Kalamazoo man convicted of murdering an 11-month-old child in August 2017 has been sentenced to 12 1/2 to 40 years in prison.
Bryant Rolland received the sentence in court Tuesday, January 3.
He had been originally convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in November of 2019, and had also been sentenced to 25 to 40 years in prison for first-degree child abuse. However, the sentence was vacated after his court-appointed attorney was found to have provided ineffective counsel according to court documents.
Rolland pleaded no contest to second-degree murder November 28. In exchange, the charges of first-degree murder and first-degree child abuse were dropped.
According to police, Rolland was babysitting the 11-month-old along with his 3-year-old sibling and six of his own children where he told authorities that the boy had been pushed down the stairs by his sibling. The toddler was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
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