CLEVELAND (AP) - Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man charged with killing a 14-year-old Cleveland girl found dead in an abandoned house last month.
Forty-four-year-old Christopher Whitaker, of South Euclid (YOO’-klid), was indicted Monday on charges including aggravated murder, kidnapping, rape and offenses against a corpse in the death of Alianna DeFreeze.
Court records listed no attorney for Whitaker. A message seeking comment was left with the public defender’s office.
A prosecutor says the facts of the case and Whitaker’s criminal history compel his office to seek the death penalty. Whitaker has previous convictions for assault and sexual battery.
Alianna was reported missing after failing to show up for school. Surveillance cameras recorded her getting off a public bus on Jan. 26 near where her body was found days later.
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