Ex-NFL Player Cierre Wood, Girlfriend Facing Murder, 20 Child Abuse Charges

Former NFL running back Cierre Wood and his girlfriend, Amy Taylor, were indicted on charges of murder and felony child abuse following the death of Taylor's five-year-old daughter, according to the Associated Press (via USA Today). 

Wood and Taylor face life in prison if found guilty. Wood's lawyer confirmed he will plead not guilty at his arraignment July 2.

Caroline Bleakley of KLAS in Las Vegas reported April 11 that Wood was charged with murder. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Mike Shoro, Wood told authorities he made Taylor's daughter, La'Rayah Davis, run laps around an apartment and do situps as a form of punishment.

He said she "fell backward and hit her head" while doing situps April 9, leading him to call 911.

Shoro wrote Davis "appeared cold and stiff" when paramedics arrived and later died at a local hospital of "multiple blunt force injuries."

The Clark County coroner ruled her death a homicide. The AP reported Davis had "20 newly broken ribs, internal bleeding, a lacerated liver and bruises to her heart, diaphragm and connective tissue."

Wood signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and had brief stints with the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills before moving on to the CFL in 2017.