Toddler Killed As Father Holds Her Underwater For 30 Seconds To 'Baptize' Her

An Oklahoma man has been found guilty of child abuse that resulted in the death of his daughter. He claimed he was baptizing the 21-month-old baby when she drowned in a pond.

Devin Sizemore, 28, of McAlester, was convicted in the child's drowning death on April 10, the Department of Justice said in a statement Tuesday.

The toddler girl was found face down in a pond a few days after Sizemore picked her up from her mother's place in 2016. Sizemore was estranged from the child's mother at the time, reported 21Alive.

The child's family notified cops about Sizemore "acting erratic" when he neither returned the child nor went back to his own residence, according to a previous statement from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Officers from Krebs Police Department found Sizemore days later at a barn near a pond. The daughter was unresponsive and floating in the pond face down.

The toddler was administered CPR and taken to a hospital but she was eventually pronounced dead.

"Sizemore admitted he 'baptized' the victim and held her underwater for approximately 30 seconds," the Department of Justice said.

He also tried to drown a police officer who found him with his daughter in the pond. The father was charged with one count of first-degree murder and assault and battery on a police officer for the attempted drowning.

Sizemore also faced federal charges because he and his daughter are both members of an Indian tribe.

"The Department of Justice's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case because the defendant and victim in this case are members of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crimes occurred in Pittsburg County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation and within the Eastern District of Oklahoma," the statement read.

The man was convicted of child abuse on April 10 and could face a life sentence in prison.

"Sizemore was convicted of child abuse resulting in death and voluntary manslaughter and will be sentenced at a later date. Sizemore faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the child abuse resulting in death charge and 15 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter charge," the statement read.