Pa. man gets 20 to 40 years in baseball bat death

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — An eastern Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for the baseball bat beating death of his estranged girlfriend last year.

Forty-three-year-old Alfredo Reyes Ortiz pleaded guilty last month to third-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Francesca Isley. Authorities said he beat Isley in July 2009 with a wooden baseball bat, splitting it into several pieces, and then thrust one piece down her throat.

Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach called Ortiz “a dangerous man” Monday and told him he needed to be locked away “for as long as the law permits.” Four of Isley’s children told Ortiz that her death had left a void that can never be filled.

Ortiz told Banach he was sorry and would have to live with the victim’s death.