Keith Nick Ruiz was sentenced to 36 years in prison in Jefferson County Court on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.
Dolci Gryshayeva died Sept. 9, 2011, after Ruiz slammed her to the floor of the Lakewood apartment he shared with Dolci's mother. Ruiz pleaded guilty last October and faced 25 to 40 years in prison.
Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Christopher Zenisek listened to pleas for leniency from his family members, and Ruiz himself, who said he hoped to "live in such a way that those who know me will come to know God ..."
Dolci's mother, Anastasia Gryshayeva, said, "The reality of Dolci being gone paralyzes me."
And she read from a letter she wrote to the child who received Dolci's donated heart: "You carry a heart of gold," she wrote.