Jury Reaches Verdict In Suffocation Death Of 7Y0

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A jury convicted the New Rochelle man who was accused of suffocating his 7-year-old daughter in 2017. Neil White was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Gabrielle White.

The jury took only five hours Wednesday to come to the decision after getting the case, the Journal News said.

White had told police detectives that he didn't want his daughter growing up as a child of divorced parents.

He had received divorce papers from his wife Michelle Hord the day before the death, News 12 said.

When he's sentenced, White faces 25 years to life in prison.

On June 6, 2017, a nanny who helped care for Gabrielle White went to the Arbor Glen address where the child and her father lived.

The nanny went to the third floor and called out to them.

Neil White came out of the master bedroom, bleeding from both his wrists from self-inflicted knife cuts.

The nanny became frightened and fled, calling the child's mother and the police when she was outside.

When officers arrived, they found White in the master bedroom and the child in her bedroom, under a blanket, cold and in a state of rigor.

White was taken to the hospital for treatment. He was also read his rights and was questioned.

The cause of Gabrielle White's death was asphyxia from smothering.

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