Life, no parole for man in murder of Kalamazoo-area girl, 1, who had alcohol, pot in blood
6/2/2014KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing a 14-month-old Kalamazoo girl he was babysitting.
A Kalamazoo County Circuit Court jury on May 6 convicted Toren Hains of first-degree murder in the December 2012 death of Zoie Johnson of Oshtemo Township.
Judge J. Richardson Johnson today gave him the mandatory sentence under Michigan law.
Authorities say Zoie died of head trauma. They say she had hemorrhaging in her brain and eyes and alcohol and marijuana in her blood.
Hains was the boyfriend of Zoie’s mother. He testified that he didn’t hurt Zoie and she suffered a seizure after falling from his arm.
Hains didn’t speak at the sentencing, but Shande Hughes Johnson called the attack on her granddaughter “evil and ... cowardly.”