North Carolina man gets life behind bars for stabbing 6-year-old daughter in the heart

On August 31, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina reported that Seth Willis Pickering, 38, of Leicester, North Carolina, was ordered to serve life in prison for killing his six-year-old daughter, Lila Pickering.  The bad dad stabbed his little girl in the heart as park rangers were approaching him along the Blue Ridge Parkway back in September 9, 2016. On February 9, 2018, Pickering pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and admitted to killing his daughter that fateful day in 2016.

Pickering further admitted that he killed Lila Pickering, who had not attained the age of 18 years and was under his care and control, willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation.

In handing down the life sentence on Friday, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. said that “there was no excuse for what happened,” and stated that Pickering “killed a child to punish social services and his wife.”

Four weeks before her murder, Child Services in North Carolina had placed Lila in a foster home.  But her father, who was allowed only supervised visits, kidnapped her from that foster home.  According to NBC News, park rangers, who weren’t aware of the kidnapping, stumbled across Pickering’s car parked along the Blue Ridge Parkway early in the evening of September 9, 2016. The park rangers then saw Pickering and Lila navigating their way down a steep embankment.

Court records stipulated that because there weren’t any campsites or trails in the immediate area, the rangers, who were in the area investigating an illegal campsite, wanted to talk to Pickering.

The rangers said after they exchanged a few words with Pickering and he told them everything was fine, he suddenly lunged toward Lila, and stabbed her in the heart with a kitchen knife. She died at the scene.

The rangers arrested Pickering. The rangers said when they asked Pickering why he killed his daughter, he answered, “Now they will never be able to take her away from me. She’s happier now. It’s what she wanted.”

He later told authorities that 10 minutes before they reached the location where he stabbed her, Lila had made him promise “they would never take her away from him again.”  ~ WYFF-4

Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, was quoted following the sentencing as saying, “Our hearts go out to Lila’s family. No action by the criminal justice system can soothe the pain of their loss. This is an outcome reached after consideration of all the facts and circumstances of this case. Murray added:

“By allowing the defendant to plead guilty and serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole, we will spare the family the trauma of a lengthy trial and decades of appeals. We hope this resolution brings some comfort to the family of Lila Pickering.”

Also see:
Chris Watts says he murdered his pregnant wife because she killed the couple’s 2 young daughters

https://youtu.be/EY7Emvfzt30

~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter