Virginia man who punched his two-year-old daughter to death during exorcism is jailed for 20 years

Eder Guzman-Rodriguez claims his daughter was possessed by a demon
He claims that the two-year-old gestured to him that she wanted to fight
Guzman-Rodriguez did not contest a charge of first-degree murder
He faces deportation to his native Mexico after he's served his sentence

PUBLISHED: 09:39 EST, 4 June 2013 | UPDATED: 09:41 EST, 4 June 2013

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A Virginia man who punched and strangled his two-year-old daughter to death claiming that she was possessed by a demon has been jailed for 20 years.

Eder Guzman-Rodriguez told police that he punched Jocelyn 'over and over' after he claims he saw his daughter gesturing to him as if she wanted to fight.

Guzman-Rodriguez, 30, told police in Floyd that his daughter was possessed and that he had tried to exorcise her.

He claimed that the demon 'used' his body to kill the child.

'Possessed': Eder Guzman-Rodriguez, left, claimed that his daughter Jocelyn, right, was possessed by a demon when he punched and strangled her to death in 2011

In a plea bargain, Guzman-Rodriguez did not contest a first-degree murder charge and was sentenced to 20 years and 11 months in prison.

Originally from Mexico, Guzman-Rodriguez will be deported once he has served his sentence.

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Floyd County Court heard that police were called to reports of the death of a child on November 23 2011.

The first deputy who arrived on the scene said that he saw 'several Hispanics holding Bibles' standing on the deck of a mobile home.

Police found Guzman-Rodriguez's wife Carmen Nolazco crying with visible injuries to her head, face and chest.

Jailed: Guzman-Rodriguez was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison after admitting first-degree murder

The court heard that she could not have prevented Jocelyn's death because she had been beaten unconscious before Guzman-Rodriguez attacked the two-year-old.

Jocelyn was found by officers wrapped in a blanket with no pulse.

Attorney Stephanie Shortt said that Guzman Rodriguez told police: 'I know I am the one who hit her, I was the only one there.

'The demon used my body to kill her.'

Jocelyn suffered a catalogue of horrific injuries - which included fractured ribs, abrasions and hemorrhages.

The cause of death was manual asphyxiation, Shortt said.