Brown, 53, sat expressionless in orange jailhouse scrubs as the judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his daughter.
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He hated the girl’s mother and was exhausted of paying child support, the prosecutor had told the jury, which found him guilty of first-degree murder in May, after deliberating for 1 1/2 days. Lauren’s mother, Sarah Key-Marer speaks.
“God knows what happened that day”, she said, “and we just all want to move on”.
Key-Marer’s best friend, Annette Watling, said she feels guilt watching her daughters achieve milestones that her goddaughter Lauren will never get the chance to experience herself.
Brown wanted Key-Marer to get an abortion, and he even tried to get her deported to her British homeland, Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum said.
Brown was convicted in May at his third trial in the death of Lauren Sarene Key who plunged 120 feet to her death in November 2000. She soon quit and stormed out of the room, kicking the game over on her way out.
“‘I think I’m going to die tomorrow, ‘” she said when he asked what was wrong. Brown told police the girl tripped and fell as she ran toward the cliff’s edge at Inspiration Point in Rancho Palos Verdes.
The little girl was killed during a bitter custody dispute between her parents. He asked jurors to convict Brown of manslaughter.
Following the sentencing, Brown’s lawyers immediately filed paperwork to appeal the decision. Her mother couldn’t count all her sleepless nights or the tears she shed.
Key-Marer said she blames the cancer she developed on the trauma she relived with every trial. He became addicted to drugs and tried to take his life several times before finally finding a path to recovery.
Her husband, Greg Marer, spoke of never having the opportunity to walk Lauren down the aisle and said each trial “brought our grieving process to nearly perpetuity”.
“It saddens me that he would have no emotion”, she said. He said he felt fortunate not to have known such a loss in his life and he praised Key-Marer’s family for their strength, dignity and faith. Brown has been in jail ever since.
“She was 4 years old!” But justice is all we have in this courtroom.
“I can’t imagine what you’ve been through the last 15 years”, he said.
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She was asked outside of court whether there was anything she wanted to tell Brown.
