A Central Florida man was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter, who went missing and was found dead months later.

Stephan Sterns will avoid possible execution after entering a guilty plea to charges of murder and sexual battery.

The man accused of raping and murdering 13-year-old Madeline Soto has agreed to a plea deal that takes the death penalty off the table. Stephan Sterns, the former boyfriend of Soto’s mother, appeared in a Florida courtroom Monday where he pleaded no contest in the death of the teenager and guilty to the 60 sex abuse charges connected to the case.