CHICAGO (AP) — A convicted sex offender pleaded guilty Monday to the 1998 murder of an 11-year-old girl whose death drew national headlines when two young boys were accused of the crime.
Floyd Durr, already serving a 125-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting other girls, was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for the murder and sexual assault of Ryan Harris.
Ryan was beaten and sexually molested in July 1998, then dumped in a weedy lot on Chicago's South Side, where she was found dead the next day.
Authorities initially said two boys, then 7 and 8, confessed to the crime. It took almost a month before testing on the girl's clothing showed the boys couldn't have been responsible.
View Comments
DNA tests later led prosecutors to Durr.