BATON ROUGE — A man convicted of burying the body of his then-girlfriend's two-year-old daughter was sentenced to life in prison. 

Phillip Gardner, 34, was found guilty of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in May after the 2021 death of Nevaeh Allen. He then buried her body in the woods in Hancock County, Mississippi.

Gardner faked Allen's disappearance after her mother, 28-year-old Layana Cardwell, allegedly beat her. 

Cardwell is set to face trial in relation to the toddler's death on Nov. 3.