Man convicted of killing football star Sean Taylor gets 57.5 years in prison

The Florida man who was convicted in November of second-degree murder and armed burglary in the 2007 death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor has been sentenced to 57-and-a-half years in prison.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy sentenced 23-year-old Eric Rivera Jr. on Thursday. Rivera was facing a maximum life sentence.

When Rivera and four other men broke into Taylor's Miami-area house, the former University of Miami football star was shot after he confronted them with a machete. Prior to the altercation, Taylor was sleeping alongside his girlfriend and their young daughter.

Three of the four accused men have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial. The fourth man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving 29 years in prison.

Rivera admitted to shooting Taylor during a video-taped confession to Miami-Dade homicide detectives but jurors were unable to unanimously agree that he pulled the trigger.

While testifying on his own behalf, Rivera claimed that detectives coerced him into confessing to the murder and that he never entered Taylor’s house.

[Miami Herald] [Pro Football Talk]