Ryan William Andrews, the Syracuse man sentenced to 15-years-to-life in prison after brutally killing his 10-year-old daughter, has notified the Utah Supreme Court that he plans an appeal.
"I do hear by appeal the order of January, 22, 2007," Andrews said in a handwritten notice filed with the high court on Feb. 9.
There are no supporting documents filed with any court as yet so it is unclear what Andrews is appealing.
He was sentenced Jan. 22 by 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin.
Andrews, 38, previously pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder in connection with the Aug. 1, 2006, killing of young Shelby Andrews, who died of brain injuries and suffered bruises and bite marks over 80 percent of her body.
As part of a plea bargain, the judge dismissed another first-degree felony charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
Ryan Andrews also gave the court a written description of gruesome abuse inflicted repeatedly upon the girl prior to the day she died. In it, he also describes how he and the girl's stepmother, Angela Ray Andrews, locked the girl in a too-small closet the day she died despite the fact Shelby was crying out that she could not breathe and was choking on her own vomit.
After Ryan Andrews had taken the doorknob off the closet and tied the door shut with rope, he and his wife watched TV together.
Later, when they opened the closet door, Shelby's "lifeless" body fell out, the confession stated.
At the sentencing, the judge noted that he was legally prohibited from adding extra years to Ryan Andrews' prison term for a crime Allphin described as "shocking and terrible." Allphin said he would write a letter to the Board of Pardons recommending that Andrews never receive parole.
Angela Andrews, 36, currently is undergoing mental health evaluations. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of diminished capacity, a form of the insanity plea, to charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies.
Jack Ford, spokesman for the Utah State Prison, said Ryan Andrews currently is in the receiving and orientation process during which prison officials determine what type of inmate Andrews will be and where he should be housed.
Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said Thursday that his office has not received any information regarding an appeal by Andrews.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com