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Man threw four-year-old daughter off cliff because he did not want to pay child support

Cameron Brown, 53, was convicted on 13 May of first-degree murder

Roisin O'Connor
Thursday 14 May 2015 20:56 EDT
Sarah Key-Marer, right, mother of victim Lauren Sauren Key, leaves the courthouse in Los Angeles following the second mistrial of Cameron Brown on murder charges in the death of his 4-year-old daughter Lauren in November 2000
Sarah Key-Marer, right, mother of victim Lauren Sauren Key, leaves the courthouse in Los Angeles following the second mistrial of Cameron Brown on murder charges in the death of his 4-year-old daughter Lauren in November 2000 (Scott Varley/The Daily Breeze via AP, File)

A man has been found guilty of throwing his 4-year-old daughter off a cliff because he did not want to pay child support.

Cameron Brown, 53, was convicted on 13 May of first-degree murder, 15 years after he hurled Lauren Key from a 120 foot sea cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

He claimed Lauren slipped and fell while throwing pebbles into the Pacific, however prosecution experts said Lauren's injuries were not consistent with an accidental fall.

Defendent Cameron Brown (L), escorted by LA County sheriff deputies, watches as jurors make a site visit to the Abalone Cove and Portuguese Bend areas in Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Defendent Cameron Brown (L), escorted by LA County sheriff deputies, watches as jurors make a site visit to the Abalone Cove and Portuguese Bend areas in Rancho Palos Verdes, California (AFP PHOTO / Pool / AL SEIBAL SEIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Brown, a former airport baggage handler, was accused of deliberately throwing his daughter from the cliff to avoid paying child support in 2000, in the midst of a bitter dispute over custody.

His former girlfriend and Lauren's mother, Sarah Key-Marer from Southend-on-Sea, said she was in shock from the verdict.

"All I ever wanted was that he would take responsibility for what happened that day, so I'm thankful for God for carrying me and my family and my friends through this time," she said after the hearing, the Evening Standard reported.

Cameron Brown in Los Angeles Superior Court during his second trial on murder charges in the death of his 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Sarene Key, in November, 2000
Cameron Brown in Los Angeles Superior Court during his second trial on murder charges in the death of his 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Sarene Key, in November, 2000 (Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze via AP, File)

Brown has been in custody since November 2003, and now faces a mandatory term of life in prison without parole.

He is due to be sentenced on 19 June, for murder and special circumstances that he lay in wait and murdered the girl for financial gain.

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