Man Stabs 5-Year-Old Stepdaughter To Death Because She Asked For Dinner


A Michigan man who killed his stepdaughter because she told him she was hungry has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Thomas McClellan was found guilty of first-degree murder after stabbing 5-year-old Luna Michelle Younger on November 1, 2016. The 25-year-old man had been enraged that his stepdaughter woke him up to ask for a snack. The Michigan man had violently turned on the young girl when she refused to leave his room until he fed her.

The Lansing Journal reports that Luna entered McClellan’s bedroom around 5 p.m., plopped on the floor, and told him that she was hungry. McClellan said he told her dinner was not ready yet and tried to get her to leave his room, but she resisted.

In a taped confession aired at his trial, McClellan said the little girl’s attitude sent him over the edge. The 25-year-old man, who only recently married the girl’s mother three months before, threw Luna to the ground, straddled her, and began stabbing her in the chest with a pocket knife.

When queried by detectives, McClellan said the 5-year-old girl cried and coughed as he stabbed her to death. Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Elizabeth Allen pointed out that Thomas “did not run out of his room bloody, scared or panicked…nor did he call 911.” Instead, the former restaurant worker took a shower, hid Luna’s body in a pile of blankets and set it on fire inside the house. He also discarded his cell phone, withdrew money from an ATM, and got himself a new one.

The 25-year-old man later checked himself into a motel. But later turned himself over to police after his wife, Victoria King, told him to do so.

McClellan’s attorney, Patrick Crowley described his client’s actions from a different perspective, saying his actions smacked of panic and disorganization. Crowley argued that the 25-year-old man checked into the motel using his real name and identification which were hardly the trappings of someone on the run.

Arguments and testimony in Thomas McClellan’s three-day trial were wrapped on Thursday and a verdict was read on Friday. Even his attorney admitted that his client was guilty based on the evidence mounted against him. Crowley had been fighting to get Thomas convicted of second-degree murder so that he could get a shot at parole.

“I find myself in a difficult position as an attorney. I really am not going to take a position with regard to second-degree or arson. I believe the evidence stands for what it is.”

According to CBS News, a medical examiner had previously mentioned that the little girl died from up to nine stab wounds to the chest. The 25-year-old man had argued with the girl’s mother before she left for work. Thomas McClellan had been saddled with the task to watch young Luna.

Firefighters were called to the apartment as Luna’s body burnt inside the house. Firefighter Corey Drolett, in a bid to extinguish the smoldering fire caused by the blankets, found Luna’s body instead.

Thomas McClellan will be officially sentenced on August 23.

[Featured Image by Edgar/Thinkstock]

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