INDIANAPOLIS -- Jeffrey Fairbanks, the man who was found guilty of neglect of his 3-month-old daughter resulting in her death, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday.
A jury found Fairbanks not guilty of murder in April. He was found guilty of neglect of a dependent causing death.
Fairbanks' daughter, Janna Rivera, was reported missing in May 2015, sparking a massive search effort for her. Indianapolis firefighters dredged a retention pond near the home where she lived, and IMPD officers spent days searching a landfill on the city's south side.
TIMELINE | The Disappearance of Baby Janna Rivera
Baby Janna's mother, Yolanda Rivera-Gonzalez, initially called 911 on the morning of May 29 saying her infant daughter was dead. She later called back and recanted that story – saying instead that her boyfriend, Jeffrey Fairbanks, had taken the child the night before and she didn't know where they were.
Fairbanks admitted to detectives that he put a pillow over the infant to muffle her crying on the day that she died.
Fairbanks reportedly told police that Baby Janna's body was placed in a dumpster, leading to searches of garbage trucks and landfills.
Three months after her disappearance, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office filed charges of murder and neglect of a dependent causing death against Fairbanks.
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