In a case that has gripped Corinth for years, 24-year-old Gabriel Girner was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the 2023 death of his three-month-old daughter, Ivana Rose Girner. The plea and sentencing were entered in Alcorn County Circuit Court, bringing a legal end to a case that began when Corinth police rushed to a Douglas Street home in June 2023. Girner will serve his sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Judge Accepts Plea, Imposes Statutory Life Term
According to WREG, Circuit Judge Michael P. Mills Jr. accepted Girner’s guilty plea to first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The sentence carries no possibility of parole. Prosecutors on the case were District Attorney Jason D. Herring and assistant district attorneys Kyle Robbins and Clay Cummings, the station reported.
How Investigators Say The Baby Was Hurt
Corinth police say the investigation started on June 14, 2023, when officers were called to a Douglas Street home for an unresponsive infant. The child was first taken to a Corinth hospital and then transferred to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where she died the same day, WLBT reported. Medical staff told investigators the baby had suffered blunt-force trauma and had bruising to the neck, chest and buttocks, the station reported. That June 2023 call triggered a multi-agency probe that ultimately led to the charge and the guilty plea three years later.
State Law Means No Chance Of Parole
Under Mississippi’s parole statute, someone convicted of first-degree murder is not eligible for parole, so a life sentence for that crime effectively means life without release, according to the state code summary at FindLaw. That legal framework is why the court’s life term carries no possibility of parole under current law.
Mother Charged; Prosecutors Say Plea Resolves Case
Prosecutors told WREG they pursued the first-degree murder charge and accepted Girner’s plea to resolve the prosecution after the multi-year investigation. The infant’s mother, who was 16 at the time, was charged in juvenile court with condoning child abuse, WLBT reported.
No statement from Girner’s defense was available at the time of reporting. The sentence closes the criminal case in a tragedy that has drawn sustained attention in Corinth and the greater Memphis area since the child’s death in June 2023.
