SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Shreveport man convicted for causing the 2021 death of 5-year-old Mya Patel has been sentenced to a century in prison.

District Judge John D. Mosely Jr. sentenced Joseph Lee Smith, 35, to 60 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or reduction of sentence in connection with the March 2021 slaying of Mya Patel.

Smith also must serve 20 years for obstruction of justice and 20 years for aggravated battery, for separate convictions associated with the slaying. Those terms must also be served at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or reduction of sentence.

During an altercation at a Super 8 Motel in 2021, Smith struck another man with a 9-mm handgun, which discharged. The bullet missed the other man, but went into the ground-floor apartment where Mya Patel was staying and struck her in the head before grazing another occupant.

Mya died of her wound on March 23, 2021.