Plumadore pleads guilty to killing Aliahna Lemmon

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - The man accused of killing and dismembering nine-year-old Aliahna Lemmon days before Christmas last year has pleaded guilty to the crime.

Attorneys for Michael Plumadore, 39, and the State of Indiana entered a plea agreement Friday afternoon for the court's review.

The Allen County Prosecutor is seeking life without parole. 

Defense attorney, Anthony Churchward said in court that the plea agreement is Plumadore's advised course after receiving notification from Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Karen Richards that she would have pursued the death penalty had the case gone to trial.

According to investigators, Plumadore, 39, murdered Lemmon in northern Allen County on December 22, 2011.  He was charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and altering the scene of death.  A fourth charge was filed Friday citing Plumadore as a habitual offender.  He was convicted of grand theft auto in 1999 and forgery years later.

Emotions inside the courtroom escalated when Judge John Surbeck asked Plumadore to describe the reasons that make him guilty of the individual charges.

"I repeatedly hit Aliahna Lemmon in the head with a brick," Plumadore said.  "I cut Aliahna up with a hacksaw."

Several people surrounded the victim's mother who sat visibly upset in the first row of the courtroom.

The court will review the plea agreement for acceptance.  A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 18, the date the murder trial was originally set to begin.

The prosecutor's office declined to comment on Friday's proceedings.  The defense attorneys also did not issue a statement.