Life sentence upheld for man in daughter’s death

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s highest court has upheld a life prison sentence for a Rock Hill man convicted in his daughter’s 2001 death. The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the sentence of Billy Wayne Cope. Cope was convicted in the rape and murder of his 12-year-old daughter, to which he confessed several times. A neighbor was also sentenced to life in prison after his DNA was found on the girl. Last year, Cope’s attorneys argued to the court that prosecutors had been determined to pin the crime on the father no matter the evidence. The state Court of Appeals first upheld Cope’s conviction. Then that court ruled he could not be convicted of conspiring to rape his daughter with the neighbor, then overturned that decision.