Sacramento man sentenced for killing 1-year-old at West Sacramento hotel in 2021
WOODLAND – A Sacramento man convicted of killing a 16-month-old girl and abusing her 3-year-old brother has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, prosecutors announced on Friday.
Derrick Woods, a 47-year-old man, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months for the death of 1-year-old Amanda Owens at Silvey's Motel on West Capitol Avenue on Feb. 15, 2021.
The Yolo County District Attorney's Office said Owens' mother left her and her brother with Woods at the motel. But when she returned hours later, Woods ran away and got into a getaway car.
Owens was found inside the bed and was not breathing, with prosecutors saying her face was swollen and covered in bruises.
Her brother was found sitting on a chair with bruises and red welts from being whipped with an electrical cord, prosecutors said.
Woods was found the next day walking out of a Sacramento hotel. He was later charged with murder, child abuse causing death and physical abuse of a child.
But the criminal proceedings were suspended and Woods was sent to a state hospital to restore competency.
By March 2025, prosecutors said Woods pleaded to voluntary manslaughter, physical child abuse and false imprisonment by force or violence. He was then sentenced on Wednesday.
