Jury Recommends 40-Year Sentence for Tuscumbia Woman Found Guilty of Murdering 2-Year-Old

A Miller County woman will be sentenced in December in the beating death of her boyfriend’s 2-year-old daughter. A jury in LeClede County found 23-year-old Cheryl Patrick of Tuscumbia guilty Friday of second-degree murder and child abuse. The jury recommended 20-year sentences for each count. Prosecutors say Patrick beat Alexis Ward to death in February of 2008. The trial was moved to Laclede county on a change of venue. Sentencing is scheduled for December 3rd.