A Connecticut man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for killing his 15-year-old niece, who was nearly decapitated in the attack.
The Connecticut Post reports Richard Segabiro, 53, was sentenced Friday for the 2018 killing of the girl at his Bridgeport home. He previously pleaded guilty to murder.
Segabiro fled wartorn Congo in 2005 with his wife, three children and niece. He claimed he killed Francine Nyanzanika because he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and believed she was trying to poison him.
“While it’s not lost on the court how horrific the life you led in the Congo was, the sheer brutality that was shown this young girl who was entrusted into your hands convinces the court to impose a substantial sentence,” Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander said.
Police said Segabiro called 911 on Feb. 19, 2018, to report he had killed someone. Officers said they found him covered in blood on his front porch and found Nyanzanika lying in a pool of blood on a bathroom floor.
Authorities said an autopsy showed the girl also had been sexually assaulted by someone later identified as Segabiro.
When asked by the judge if he had anything to say, Segabiro said through a Swahili interpreter that he had just one question: “When do I get out of jail?”
