KYLA HALL - 22 Months (2009) - Jacksonville FL

A father convicted of killing his
22-month-old daughter was sentenced Wednesday to spend the rest of his
life in prison.Josi Hall, 25, was arrested several months after
his daughter, Kyla, was found dead in the bedroom of his San Pablo Road
apartment. The toddler was hit so hard in the chest that her heart
ruptured.Hall was convicted last month of second-degree murder.After
hearing victim impact statements, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt
announced Hall would be sent to prison for life.



After the hearing, Hall's sister called the verdict and sentence
"bogus," and said there will be a "strong appeal.""Justice was
not served for my niece," Sasha Hall said. "There's a monster walking
around and there's a innocent man going to prison."Hall and Kyla's mother
were both arrested in April 2007
during a previous investigation into abuse when Kyla was an infant.
Investigators said they found that Kyla's legs broken, her wrist and
left foot fractured and her skull fractured. All the injuries were in
various stages of healing.Those charges were dropped due to lack
of evidence.Kyla's mom gave up her parental rights and the girl
was put in foster care. Kyla was returned to Josi Hall's custody four
months before she died.The child's court-appointed advocate only met with Josi Hall three
or four times and didn't show up at the court hearing where Kyla's
custody was determined.The case file also shows that workers with
Jewish Family and Community Services, who cared for Kyla while she was
in state custody, were against returning the child to her father, but
they did not fight to keep her away from Hall.No one
was ever fired or disciplined for the way Kyla's case was handled, but
new guidelines were released by DCF calling for more unannounced visits,
more documentation about recommendations and a meeting of everyone
involved in a child welfare investigation before reunification.