A 27-year-old man from Kansas is facing a lifetime in prison for the heinous crime of sexually assaulting and murdering the 5-year-old daughter of his friend. On Tuesday, District Judge Jessica Heinen imposed two separate sentences of 25 years to life on Mickel Cherry for the tragic incident involving the young girl in October 2023.

The sentences are to be served one after the other, which means Cherry must serve at least 50 years in prison before he can even consider parole. Furthermore, the terms do not allow for sentence suspension, probation, or earning good behavior credits.

Cherry, who had initially been facing the death penalty, was able to avoid capital punishment by pleading guilty to one count of first-degree murder in the commission of a felony and one count of rape of a victim under the age of 14 by an offender over the age of 18, court records show.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay reportedly told Topeka CBS affiliate WIBW that the “only reason” his office did not pursue the death penalty against Cherry because he “was not allowed to,” calling the matter one of the most emotionally draining cases he had ever experienced. The prosecutor had previously said that Cherry’s diminished mental capacity would likely make him ineligible for the death penalty and, though capital punishment is still legal, Kansas has not executed an inmate since 1965.

“This is absolutely heartbreaking, and there’s no way around that, it was from the start and it is today,” Kagay reportedly said. “Justice was served, but I don’t know anyone who was not affected by this.”

As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the Topeka Police Department at about 6 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2023, responded to a call about a young girl — later identified as Zoey Felix — suffering from life-threatening injuries at a Dillons located in the 2000 block of S.E. 29th Street in Topeka.

Emergency medical personnel with the Topeka Fire Department attempted lifesaving measures on the child before rushing her to a local hospital for treatment. She succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead a short time after arriving at the facility.

A subsequent autopsy determined that the child’s death was suspicious and authorities began investigating her death as a homicide.

Prosecutors said that Zoey was homeless and was living in a makeshift encampment with her father on the evening of Oct. 2, 2023, when Cherry suffocated her with a pillow and sexually assaulted her, according to The Associated Press. Zoey’s father, who was kicked out of the house with Zoey by the girl’s mother, knew Cherry and had asked him to look after the child while he went to his job at a gas station just across the street from the encampment.

Neighbors told The Topeka Capital-Journal that, before she was kicked out, Zoey had lived with her mother, a teenage sister, and her father in a decrepit house that often had no lights or running water. At some point in the months before the 5-year-old girl’s death, the AP reported, Cherry had also listed the home as his address.

Several community members reiterated to the newspaper that “she pretty much took care of herself” and could often be seen running around the neighborhood unsupervised.

“Everybody on the block took care of Zoey,” Sheryl Tyree, a woman who does not live in the neighborhood but spends a great deal of time there, told the Capital-Journal. “Everybody loved Zoey, except her parents.”

More than one of Zoey’s neighbors claimed to the Capital-Journal that they had contacted the Kansas Department for Children and Families to report that Zoey was a victim of neglect.