Milwaukee man sentenced to prison time on felony 2nd degree murder charge in Mower County District Court

A man sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Milwaukee woman who appeared in Mower County District Court last Thursday on a charge of murdering their 2-year-old daughter has been sentenced to a concurrent prison term.    

40-year-old Dariaz Higgins was transferred to the Mower County jail Wednesday, March 27th to appear on a felony charge of 2nd-degree murder, without intent, while committing a felony after killing 2-year-old Noelani Robinson at the Rodeway Inn Motel in Austin in March of 2019.  

Higgins, who is currently serving a life sentence at the Waupun Correctional Institute in Wisconsin for the March 11th, 2019 shooting death of 24-year-old Sierra Robinson, Noelani Robinson’s mother petitioned to enter a guilty plea in the case on Friday, March 29th, a day after a demand for a speedy trial was introduced on Thursday, March 28th..

Higgins was convicted and sentenced Wednesday to 17 years and five months in prison after pleading guilty to the felony 2nd degree murder charge, with the sentence to be served concurrently with his life sentence in Wisconsin.  Judge Natalie Martinez determined that Higgins must serve at least two-thirds of the sentence, or 140 months in prison, and he was given credit for seven days already served.  Higgins will serve the sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud.