A posh U.K. antique dealer admitted Wednesday that he killed his seven-year-old daughter by strangling her with a nightgown cord.
Robert Peters, 55, was alone with his daughter Sophia last year on Nov. 3 at their million-dollar Wimbledon home when he killed her, the Old Bailey court heard, according to The Guardian.
Doctors desperately tried to save Sophia, placing her on life support at St. George’s hospital, the outlet said. She died the next day.
The father, who stood before a judge at the Old Bailey, admitted to his heinous crime and pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denied murder, The Guardian said.
But his manslaughter plea was rejected, and his murder trial is set to begin on April 23, according to the BBC.
Neighbors were astounded by the killing, The Telegraph reported, and recalled being awoken by sirens.
“It’s really sad, really tragic,” a neighbor told the outlet. “Something like that should never happen to a seven-year-old girl.”