DANVILLE, Va. – 32-year-old John Robert Shore has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2019 murder of his one-year-old daughter, Oaklyn Leigh “O” Owens.

Police were called to SOVAH Health Danville on January 23, 2019 after the baby was brought to the emergency room by her father. She was unresponsive and had suffered a head injury. Oaklyn was taken to Roanoke Carilion Memorial Hospital, where she died two days later. The medical examiner ruled that the girl died of repeated blunt force trauma.

Shore lived on Doolittle Street in Danville but was arrested at a Wal-Mart in Stuart, Virginia. He was later returned to Danville, where Shore was jailed without bond.

Under a plea agreement, Shore was sentenced to 30 years with 15 years suspended. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse and was sentenced Thursday in Danville Circuit Court.

Shore will be under supervised probation for five years after his release from prison.