Texas teen sentenced to life in prison for killing 6-yr-old girl

AUSTIN Texas (Reuters) - A male Texas teenager was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for killing a six-year-old girl, wrapping her body in a tarp and leaving it on the side of a road, prosecutors said. Tyler Lane Holder, now 18 but 17 at the time of the crime in the Fort Worth area a year ago, reached a deal with prosecutors for the sentence, the Tarrant County District Attorney's office said. Holder pleaded guilty to the murder of Alanna Gallagher, who was found bound in duct tape and with a plastic bag over her head. Prosecutors said they had DNA evidence linking him to the crime. He also pleaded guilty to arson for setting fire to the home of the victim's family and with attempted capital murder for shooting at a police officer trying to arrest him. Prosecutors said he could not be charged with capital murder, which brings the possibility of the death penalty, because he was under 18 when the crime was committed. He must serve at least 50 years in prison before he can be eligible for parole. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Sandra Maler)