Republished September 28, 2017 - 1:57 PM
Original Publication Date September 28, 2017 - 1:21 PM
RALEIGH, N.C. - A man accused of killing his wife and daughter and posing their bodies for a Facebook post rejected a plea agreement on Thursday that would have avoided a trial.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that Elhadji Seydou Diop, 54, pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.
Diop had agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, said Kristen Fetter, a Wake County prosecutor.
But Charles Caldwell, Diop's court-appointed attorney, said his client "had a change of heart."
Prosecutors say Diop strangled 40-year-old Aminata Drame. An autopsy report said medical examiners couldn't tell if their 2-year-old daughter, Fatim Diop, had been strangled. The report said she may have been smothered when her fighting parents landed on top of her in their Raleigh townhouse on April 5, 2016.
Police went to the family's home after Diop's niece in Senegal saw the dead bodies on his Facebook page.
"Look what god did 2. Me.," investigators believe Diop posted at 2:41 p.m. that day. "A beautiful family. all gone."
A Senegalese online newspaper reported Diop had also written on his Facebook page, "They just died, and I will be next. Who will stop me?"
If convicted, Diop could face the death penalty or life in prison. He is currently being held at Central Prison in Raleigh, where he was taken last year after he attempted to kill himself, a Wake County jail spokesman said.
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Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com
News from © The Associated Press, 2017