SUMPTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A jury has found a Michigan man guilty on all charges in the murder of his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter in Sumpter Township, officials said.
Brad Fields, 28, was found guilty of felony murder, second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse, torture, conspiracy to commit first-degree child abuse and conspiracy to commit second-degree child abuse, the Sumpter Township Police Department said.
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He will be sentenced Oct. 9, police said.
Fields and his girlfriend, Candice Diaz, 24, are accused of abusing and killing Diaz's 4-year-old daughter, Gabrielle Barrett. The abuse allegedly happened on New Year's Day in the couple's trailer at the Rawsonville Woods Mobile Home community on Greenmeadow Drive in Sumpter Township.
The couple was charged with felony murder, second-degree murder, torture and first-degree child abuse in connection to the girl's death.
Police responded to the home that morning and found Gabrielle with burns and bruises all over her body. She was unresponsive with "obvious" severe burns to her extremities. She was rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead shortly after.
Police found Diaz and Fields eight days later in Georgia, where they were arrested without incident. Both Fields and Diaz were found competent to stand trial.
Records from police also show this is not the first time there was trouble at the couple's home. On May 20, 2016, officers went into the house after receiving a report of a barricaded gunman after a domestic assault. Diaz told officers Fields hit her, shot her dog and shot himself in an attempted suicide. Fields then fled the home and was later arrested on domestic violence charges.
Police say Diaz claims she owned weapons that had been confiscated. She pleaded guilty to weapons charges and received probation.