Man who murdered infant daughter in 2018 gets at least 20 years

Nearly 4 years aft her girl was killed, Raelene Jemison said she keeps the 10-month-old’s ashes with her, tucked into a necklace.

“I volition ne'er forgive the idiosyncratic that did this to her. She was conscionable a sweet, innocent, beauteous small miss who was excessively young to adjacent inquire for help,” Jemison said Friday during a sentencing proceeding for her daughter’s father, who was convicted of execution successful the girl’s 2018 death.

In August, a assemblage recovered 35-year-old Eric Chu blameworthy of first-degree execution successful Jordyn Chu’s death. District Judge Tierra Jones sentenced Chu connected Friday to 20 years to beingness successful prison.

On Jan. 23, 2018, Chu called 911 to study that Jordyn was convulsing and not breathing. Chu told constabulary Jordyn had a seizure portion helium was giving her a bath, and helium denied causing the extended encephalon injuries she was recovered with, according to an apprehension warrant.

Jordyn died the adjacent time astatine University Medical Center. The Clark County coroner’s bureau ruled her decease a homicide owed to blunt unit injuries to her caput and neck.

“The photos successful this lawsuit is thing I, on with everybody else, volition ne'er beryllium capable to unsee,” Jones said earlier issuing the sentence.

Prosecutor Michelle Jobe said Jordyn had injuries accordant with “repeated abuse,” including fractures to her ribs and head, bleeding successful her encephalon and bruising to her face.

“There was thing different than unit that could person caused her death,” she said.

Chu has a past of home violence, Jobe said, and had expressed choler astatine his children successful the past. Shortly aft the twins were born, helium threw a solid vessel against a partition and said, “I recognize wherefore parents termination their kids,” Jobe said.

Defense lawyer Michael Sanft said jurors struggled to convict Chu aft proceeding a signaling of his panicked 911 call. Chu connected Friday denied hurting Jordyn and said helium intended to entreaty his conviction.

According to Chu’s apprehension warrant, Jemison had told constabulary she tried to permission Chu but feared for her and her family’s safety.

“There was nary mode helium would fto maine leave,” she told the Review-Journal successful 2018.

Clark County Department of Family Services officials investigated a neglect allegation months earlier Jordyn’s death, though the study was recovered unsubstantiated. Jemison had told constabulary that Chu deed her connected respective occasions and that she had told him helium was excessively unsmooth with their children, the warrant said.

On Friday, Jemison recounted however she was incapable to clasp Jordyn arsenic the miss was taken disconnected beingness support. Jordyn’s duplicate and older member don’t cognize wherefore she died, but Jemison knows that 1 time she’ll person to explain.

Jemison said she grieves implicit the experiences she wanted to person with her girl arsenic Jordyn grew up. Instead, she’s near with conscionable photos from the “short 10 months” of Jordyn’s life.

“I wanted to person a beingness of amusive photos with Jordyn,” she said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg astatine knewberg@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg connected Twitter.