Father pleads guilty, gets 50 years

Greg Ellguth is fingerprinted after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. [Times photos | Atoyia Deans]

LARGO -- After almost three years of waiting for Greg Ellguth to face judge and jury for the murder of his infant son, the trial was over before it even started.

Ellguth, 24, entered a guilty plea Tuesday. He will serve 50 years in jail for the second-degree murder of his son Tylor James Keck.

Ellguth was arrested in May 2005 after hurling his baby to the floor when the infant wouldn't take his formula. He later confessed to the crime and the baby died days later at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Prosecutors for the state of Florida had anticipated beginning the process of selecting a jury in the case. They were pushing for the death penalty. But after days of negotiations, the two sides reached a plea agreement.

A somber-looking Ellguth walked into the courtroom on Monday wearing a dark suit and blue shirt. He spoke to the judge in a hushed tone saying only "yes, sir" and "no, sir" when prompted. The deceased baby's mother, Cheyenne Keck, photo at left, was also present. She sat in the front row holding her 6-month old son, Dakota James, who was fathered by someone other than Ellguth.

"We were prepared for a trial. We felt it was appropriate that he get life in prison or the death penalty," said Doug Crow, a prosecutor on the case. "But we really considered the welfare of the mom who lost her child."

Keck, 24, said she was happy to have the situation behind her.

"I feel liberated," she said.

Nicole Hutcheson, Times staff writer