CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole in the death of his 9-year-old disabled son, who disappeared nearly 20 years ago.
Dawan Ferguson, of St. Louis, was sentenced Tuesday after being convicted in July of first-degree murder nearly two decades after his son, Christopher, disappeared. The boy's body has never been found.
Ferguson has always claimed the boy was inside his SUV when it was stolen after Ferguson stopped to make a phone call, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Christian had a disorder that prevented his body from processing protein. Without medication, he would have died within 24 to 72 hours. When he disappeared, Christian could not walk or talk.
The sentence will run consecutively to a life sentence plus 30 years that Ferguson was given last week for convictions of sexually abusing two children over several years.
Ferguson said in a statement Tuesday that he would appeal.