A California father was sentenced to life in prison for the “especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel” slaying of his newborn daughter last summer.
Kevin Van Streefkerk, 38, confessed to abusing his daughter Alya Van Streefkerk to death on Father’s Day last year.
Van Streefkerk, who worked as a telecommunications technician at the governor’s office, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and infliction of torture in exchange of having other charges dropped.
Prosecutors said the “heinous physical abuse” Alya endured was caught on video and the father confessed to beating her multiple times including in the ultimate incident, where he said he “beat the living daylights out of her.”
“The pain that this case caused for everyone who touched it and the family that continues to mourn the life of this sweet, innocent infant, simply pales in comparison to the pain that Alya herself experienced,” Deputy District Attorney Kassie Cardullo said.
“She was so tiny, so frail and defenseless. She couldn’t fight back or even tell anyone that she was in pain. It’s incomprehensible.”
