The Mississippi State Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence and verdict of a Gulfport man convicted in the death of a 5-year-old girl.

The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence Thursday against Alberto Garcia, saying “the sentence imposed – death – is proportionate compared to other similar cases.,” WLOX-TV reported.

Garcia pleaded guilty to the 2014 death of Janaya Thompson. He was accused of sexually assaulting the little girl and hanging her by using socks, which led to her death by strangulation on July 16, 2014. Search teams discovered her body in an abandoned trailer a day after her disappearance and death.

He was sentenced to death by Judge Lisa Dodson on Jan. 25, 2017. Before handing down the sentence, Dodson said, “This is one of the worst I’ve ever seen in terms of what happened to this child.”