A 29-year-old Sandy man faces 15 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to attempted aggravated murder for severely beating his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.

Tyrel Scott Belone changed his plea on Thursday, Sept. 24, in a deal that dismissed two additional first-degree felony charges: aggravated child abuse and child torture. His sentencing is set for Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 3 p.m.

The case dates to June 28, 2025, when Sandy City Police officers responded to a residence around 7:13 a.m. for a reported assault, ABC4 Utah reported. Officers found the girl in a basement apartment lying on her back, unresponsive, with bruising on her face and a greenish-blue color over her body. She was not getting enough oxygen.

The child was airlifted to a hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. The girl nearly died. A doctor determined she would not have survived without treatment. She had sustained a complex skull fracture, hemorrhaging and evidence of physical trauma from more than one occasion.

According to a Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office news release cited by Gephardt Daily, the girl woke around 4:30 a.m. that day. At about 5:30 a.m., before his girlfriend Amber Leary left for work, Belone picked up the child and threw her onto a mattress. She ricocheted and hit her head and face on the wall.

In police interviews, Belone admitted he had "knocked" the child several times with a closed fist and punched her in the cheekbone and forehead. He also said he once backhanded her in the bathroom, causing her to fall. Court documents state his physical discipline of the girl had become "more and more frequent" in the weeks before the assault, fueled by frustration over her potty-training regression.

Leary told police Belone had sent her text messages in the days before the assault, including "I'm going to murder her," "I'm going to crack her skull" and "hearing her voice makes me want to kill her." Less than a week before the June 28 incident, he texted, "She needs to go."

After the assault, Belone allegedly refused to let Leary call 911. When Leary asked what would happen if the child died, Belone said, "She'll be fine," according to court documents cited by ABC4.

Belone's mother, a nurse practitioner, is believed to have called EMS.

Both Belone and Leary worked in healthcare. Belone worked as a nurse and Leary as a certified nursing assistant, KUTV reported.

The initial indictment stated Belone committed "extreme acts of violence" while Leary stood by and watched. Leary still faces all three original first-degree felony charges: attempted aggravated murder, aggravated child abuse and child torture. She has not entered a plea. Her pre-trial conference is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 5, at 1:30 p.m.

No updates on the child's condition have been made public.