COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man convicted of fatally stabbing his 4-year-old daughter and her mother outside their Ohio home has been sentenced to death.

Twenty-six-year-old Kristofer Garrett was sentenced Wednesday in Columbus on aggravated murder charges in the January 2018 deaths of his daughter, Kristina Duckson, and her mother, Nicole Duckson.

Their bodies were found in the backyard by a co-worker who became concerned when Nicole Duckson didn’t pick her up.

A message seeking comment was left Wednesday for Garrett’s lawyer.

A jury had recommended the death penalty for Garrett, but the judge also had the option to impose a life sentence.

The Columbus Dispatch reports a Franklin County jury hadn’t recommended a death sentence since 2003, though judges have imposed such sentences since then.