News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Gannon McDonnell, the father of the murdered Jayde McDonnell, answers questions from Bill Pfeifer, the attorney for Aaron Trout, the man accused of killing McDonnell’s daughter, during Trout’s trial in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court on Jan. 16.

HARRISVILLE — The father of murdered 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell said he got more than he could have hoped for when the man convicted of killing his daughter received an effective life sentence.

“I got way more than I asked for, way more than I imagined,” Gannon McDonnell said of the sentence handed down by Alcona County Circuit Court Judge Laura Frawley. “It’s a very good thing. I did not expect to hear the number of years that I did.”

Last month, a jury convicted Aaron Trout of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse in the 2022 killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell. Frawley this week sentenced Trout to 55 to 90 years in prison for the second-degree murder charge and 30 to 60 years for the child abuse charge.

Adrienne Pavelka, Jayde McDonnell’s mother and Trout’s girlfriend at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty last year to child abuse and will be sentenced later. She testified against Trout at trial.

McDonnell said this week therapy helped him both prepare for the trial and process the loss of his daughter.

“I’ve been in therapy for a year,” he said. “It has helped me a lot with understanding what has happened, what I have to do … and how to maneuver through the rest of my life and parenting life.”

McDonnell said he hopes the verdict can act as a warning and message to all child abusers and would-be child abusers of the consequences of their actions.

“Justice for Jade is the beginning of a change for the pandemic that is child abuse, child neglect, and child murder,” McDonnell said. “A PSA to all violent offenders against children that you will be caught, so that there are more eyes on our nation’s future.”

Before Trout was sentenced, McDonnell gave a victim impact statement and addressed Trout directly.

“My daughter was too good for this world,” McDonnell told Trout. “But she is with us now, watching you get sentenced for the rest of your life.”

As a final message to his deceased daughter, McDonnell wanted to say, “I love you Jay.”