Baby sitter killer Ford gets the max

June 11, 2009 | crime

Archive of trial coverage

NORWICH — A New Jersey man convicted of intentionally running over a 12-year-old baby sitter is headed to state prison for 25 years to life.

George Ford Jr., of Piscataway and the town of Otselic in Chenango County, admitted during his sentencing that he killed Shyanne Somers in July 2007, but told a judge Thursday that it was an accident and not murder. He asked for a lenient sentence.

District Attorney Joseph McBride and Shyanne’s father, however, asked the judge to give Ford the maximum sentence.

The judge found the 44-year-old Ford guilty of second-degree murder after a non-jury trial in February.

Prosecutors said Ford was high on cocaine when he hit Shyanne with his pickup truck to stop her from talking about what happened during the more than three hours he spent alone with the girl behind an abandoned farmhouse.

The key evidence against Ford was data from a GPS tracking device hidden in the pickup by his estranged wife, who suspected he was having affairs.