Ryan Brunn Pleads Guilty in Jorelys Rivera Murder

A judge has sentenced a 20-year-old maintenance man to life without parole in the killing of a 7-year-old Canton girl.

Ryan Brunn on Tuesday pleaded guilty to the Dec. 2 killing of Jorelys Rivera . Brunn told the judge he found Rivera's roller skate and used it to lure her into a vacant apartment. He described cutting Rivera with a razor, beating her with a skate and dumping her body in a trash compactor.

Brunn was indicted last week in the Dec. 2 killing of Jorelys Rivera. He responded "Yes, sir," when a judge asked if he was pleading guilty to the charges. The judge accepted his plea to murder, child molestation and other counts and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

Joseline Rivera

"This is an appropriate end to a very horrific circumstance. It brings closure. It brings finality. It brings us to a conclusion of a very difficult time," said Cherokee County District Attoey Garry Moss.

Authorities found the child's body three days after her mother reported her missing. Police say Brunn snatched Rivera as she walked from the playground to her apartment to get sodas for her friends and killed her in a vacant unit.