An Ohio judge sentenced 23-year-old Brian Moser to 17 to 22½ years in prison for the 2025 death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter, Lilith Burkhardt. The sentence exceeded a plea deal after Moser pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. Judge Brett Spencer cited the need for maximum penalties in cases involving child victims.
Brian Moser will serve 11 to 16½ years for involuntary manslaughter and three years each for two counts of child endangering, all consecutively, as ordered by Adams County Judge Brett Spencer on Tuesday. This exceeds the 15- to 20-year term in Moser's plea agreement. He had faced murder charges carrying 63 years to life before the plea in connection with Lilith Nova Burkhardt's death on July 1, 2025, at the Timber Ridge Apartment Complex in West Union, Ohio. An autopsy by the Montgomery County Coroner's Office ruled the cause as suffocation. Deputies and medics responded to Moser's 911 call just after 9 p.m., where he reported finding the unresponsive toddler in bed with her 1- and 5-year-old sisters. All three children showed significant injuries, which Moser attributed to 'corporal punishment.' He denied striking them that night but later admitted the discipline contributed to Lilith's death. During sentencing, Moser apologized to the family, calling the death an accident that left him 'traumatized.' Judge Spencer rejected the plea term, stating, 'Only maximum sentences would suffice in regard to any assimilation of fairness in this case.' He emphasized children's vulnerability: 'While our minor children only compose one-third of our population, they absolutely compose 100% of our future.' Lilith's father described her light as 'so bright' it 'filled every corner of her family's world.' Prosecutors noted Moser changed his name from Terri Smith III to Brian Moser—after a 'Dexter' serial killer—days before the death, as he 'really likes serial killers.' Lilith's mother, Tien Hawkins, faces child endangering charges with a plea hearing set for May 8.