SYRACUSE, N.Y.—An upstate New York man who cut off his electronic
monitoring bracelet, then raped a 10-year-old girl and killed her mother
pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and sex charges.
David Renz admitted in county court that he carjacked the two on
March 14, stabbing and strangling the mother to death as she tried to
stop him from raping her daughter.
Renz had been under federal monitoring after a child pornography
charge and a federal judge was sharply critical of the way probation
officers failed to keep track of him.
Renz, 29, pleaded guilty to state charges of first-degree murder and
sexual assault against a child. He was expected to be sentenced to life
in prison without the possibility of parole, but the plea bargain can be
withdrawn if the federal government seeks the death penalty.
His lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Authorities say Renz attacked the woman, a school librarian, and her
daughter after they left a gymnastics class at a mall in the Syracuse
suburb of Clay. Police said he used an air pistol to force the woman to
drive her car to a remote section of the mall’s parking lot, where he
bound both of them and raped the girl.
Hours before the attack, Renz removed and quickly reassembled an
electronic bracelet so monitors didn’t immediately realize he’d taken it
off, authorities said. He was ordered to wear the device as a condition
for being released from jail after his arrest in January on federal
child pornography charges.
Weeks after the attack, a report by a federal judge found that the
officers failed to do monthly checks on Renz that would have included
inspection of the bracelet. Federal probation officers Syracuse who were
monitoring Renz were fired.
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