Arthur Milligan, 29, agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse and neglect in the July 13, 2005, death in Pahrump of his daughter, four-month-old Brianna Milligan.

Milligan will face life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 10 years for second-degree murder when he is sentenced Oct. 10 under the plea agreement signed with the Nye County District Attorney's Office. He will be subject to a term of from two to 20 years for child abuse and neglect.

A confidential informant testified at the preliminary hearing Milligan picked the child up by her neck and the back of her head and squeezed her because she wouldn't stop crying after he fed her. Milligan also told investigators he shook the baby.

Larry Simms, a forensic pathologist with the Clark County Coroner's Office, testified the cause of death was blunt head trauma. He said the baby had swelling in the back of her head, a fairly large bruise behind the ear and abrasions on her neck.

Brianna had a skull fracture in the back of the head and bleeding on the surface of her brain.

Some old fractures were noted on the chest cage, Simms said, probably due to child abuse. He said it would take a significant amount of force to fracture an infant's ribs.

Court testimony showed Milligan had a prior history of arrests for burglary, grand larceny and possession of stolen property in November 2000.

A jailhouse informant testified Milligan confessed to him he murdered his baby girl but didn't mean to and then started crying. Milligan told his cell mate his girlfriend and his girlfriend's mother often left him to baby-sit Brianna. The informant said Milligan told him he put his hands around his baby girl's neck and smashed her head.