Man Sentenced For Murdering Young Daughter in Austin 5 Years Ago

Austin, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Wisconsin man has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for causing the death of his young daughter at an Austin motel five years ago.

40-year-old Dariaz Higgins today entered a guilty plea to a second-degree murder charge in Mower County Court. He admitted causing the blunt force trauma injuries that claimed the life of 2-year-old Noelani Robinson, who was found dead wrapped in a blanket in the ditch along Highway 218 near Blooming Prairie in March 2019.

The criminal complaint says Higgins told investigators that his daughter died after she fell off a toilet in the Austin motel room and struck her head. The court document indicates that an autopsy later determined her injuries were inconsistent with her father's version of the events.

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Higgins  is Already Serving a Life Sentence in Wisconsin

His sentence for the child's murder will be served concurrently with the life sentence he was given in Wisconsin for the murder of the young girl's mother in Milwaukee in 2019. He was convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting 24-year-old Sierra Robinson and attempted murder for wounding a 4-year-old girl who had accompanied the woman while she traveled from Las Vegas to Milwaukee in hopes of obtaining custody of little Noelani from Higgins.