Michigan man,Thomas McClellan 25, to spend life in prison after killing his 5-year-old stepdaughter

A Michigan man who his five-year-old stepdaughter to death before setting her on fire was found guilty of first-degree murder on Friday. 

Thomas McClellan, 25, of Holt, Michigan, will spend life in prison for killing Luna Michelle Younger on November 1, 2016, after she refused to leave his room until he gave her food.

During his three-day trial, the court heard that McClellan was 'tipped over the edge' when Luna woke him from a nap and asked for a snack, despite it not being 'dinner time'. 

Shortly after firefighters found Luna's burned body in the apartment McClellan shared with the girl's mother, Victoria King, McClellan turned himself into police, telling officials that he killed the girl around 5 pm after she gave him 'attitude'.  

McClellan was also of first-degree child abuse and first-degree arson by Ingham County Circuit Judge Joyce Draganuchuk. 

Draganuchuk deliberated along after McClellan's attorney, Patrick Crowley, requested a bench trial instead of trial by jury, according to the Lansing State Journal. 

During the trial, Crowly had argued that a second-degree murder conviction would be more appropriate. First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole in Michigan.  

A recording of the an interview between McClellan and Detective Charles Buckland was heard during McClellan's murder trial in Ingham County's 30th Circuit Court on Thursday.

Shortly after Luna's body was found, McClellan told the detective that he had spent the day arguing with King, who he had married three months earlier, and was watching the young girl while his wife was at work.

He was taking a nap when Luna knocked on his bedroom door at 5pm on November 1 and asked if she could have a snack. 

A recording of the interview between McClellan and Buckland was heard during McClellan's murder trial in Ingham County's 30th Circuit Court on Thursday. 

'What was so awful about Luna today that you had to kill her,' Buckland asked. 'I don't wanna guess something, Tom. I wanna hear it from you. What'd she do, Tom?'

McClellan responded: 'I told her it wasn't dinner time.'

He said Luna stayed in the room and continued asking for food.

'It tipped me over the edge,' McClellan said. 'She gave me more attitude.'

It was then that McClellan sat on top of Luna's chest and stabbed her at least five times before covering her body with sheets, pouring vodka on it and setting it on fire, prosecutors say.

He had set her body on fire to hide the evidence, WLSN reported.  

As the flames spread through the ground-floor apartment, the Delhi Township fire department were called in to extinguish the blaze.

Firefighter Corey Drolett said he thought Luna might be hiding from the fire at first, and search a closet and under the bed before finding her under the smoldering blankets. 

The court heard that McClellan 'did not run out of his room bloody, scared or panicked' or call 911 after stabbing the girl, according to Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Elizabeth Allen.

Instead, he took a shower, packed a bag, and set the girl's body on fire. He then threw out his cell phone, bought a new phone and checked into a local motel.

McClellan's attorney said that his client's actions were 'inefficient', 'panicked' and 'haphazard'.

It was King who convinced McClellan to turn himself in.