Joshua Lee Burgess, 35, has been sentenced to death over the 22-hour-long torture and killing of his 15-year-old daughter, Zaria Burgess.
The judgment came down on Friday, almost three years following the incident that resulted in the teenager‘s horrific death.
MONROE, N.C. (AP/WNCN) – A North Carolina man 35-year-old Joshua Lee Burgess has been sentenced to death for the 2019 murder of his teenage daughter. The district attorney said Burgess killed Zaria by 😭🤬”What she endured by this animal!” pic.twitter.com/sHSUzPXC3I
— Sumner (@renmusb1) June 6, 2022
In August 2019 Joshua Lee turned himself over to Union County, North Carolina authorities. He specifically walked up to dispatchers on a Sunday morning and confessed to killing his daughter, who was visiting for the weekend.
The teen’s body was later discovered at his Monroe, North Carolina, home with a large gash to her neck and Joshua Lee was charged with first-degree murder. It was eventually uncovered that he killed his daughter “after psychologically and sexually torturing her for 22 hours.”
As a result, he was also charged with statutory rape, three counts of statutory sex offense and one count of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
“The details of this murder are indescribable,” Sheriff Eddie Cathey noted in a 2019 statement. “Every officer and detective involved in this case is feeling the effects of what happened to this child.”
“There is no logical answer to explain why this man did what he is accused of doing. Our hearts and prayers are with Zaria’s mom and her family,” he continued.
Joshua Lee has been sentenced to death for the gut-wrenching crime. It’s worth noting that the jury deliberated the subject for approximately 3 hours and — on top of the death sentence — Joshua Lee received an additional minimum of 76 years behind bars.
the time of the horrific slaying, Zaria lived with her biological mother but was visiting Burgess for the weekend.
Afterwards, he walked into a sheriff’s office and confessed to the killing.
He was sentenced after 3 hours of jury deliberations at the end of a three-week trial. pic.twitter.com/AIGwfBktNq— GIRDLE #EndFGM #Endchildmarriage: News! Advocacy! (@thegirdlengr) June 6, 2022
“This was truly an especially heinous, atrocious and cruel killing of an innocent child. This case was emotionally taxing for everyone involved. We continue to grieve with and pray for Zaria’s mother,” the Union County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a Facebook statement following the judgement.
“While we know Zaria is forever gone to us, we hope that today’s verdict helps to bring some closure to Zaria’s family and friends and we will continue to keep them in our prayers each day,” Sherrif Cathey added.
It’s presently unclear if the 35-year-old is planning on appealing his death sentence.
