A North Carolina man was sentenced to death for the murder of his 15-year-old daughter in 2019.
According to a news release issued by the local prosecutor’s office on Friday.
According to the Union County District Attorney’s Office, the sentence was handed down by a jury after about 3 hours of deliberation just after the three trial of 35-year-old Joshua Lee Burgess.
Burgess murdered his daughter in 2019. In August 2019, Zaria Joshalyn Burgess, 15, was discovered dead inside a residence on Hampton Meadows Road. Burgess was also found guilty of sexual offenses.
Burgess killed Zaria by slitting her throat after emotionally, mentally and sexually terrorizing her for 22 hours at his residence off Airport Road in Monroe, according to the district attorney.
“This was truly an especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel killing of an innocent child. This case was emotionally taxing for everyone involved,” the prosecutor’s office said in the news release. “We continue to grieve with and pray for Zaria’s mother.”
Authorities stated at the time of Burgess’ arrest that he walked into a sheriff’s office and confessed to the murder.
