Two fathers faced each other in a St. Clair County courtroom Thursday morning. Both mourning the loss of a child.

Clifford Liggins' daughter, Karanina Polk, died after she was beaten to death in a Fairmont City motel room over a $1,000 drug debt.

Ray Russell's son, Santoin D. Russell, was convicted of killing her in July and sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Ray Russell said to Liggins from the witness stand. "Violence was never anything my wife and I would support."

Liggins told the court that before Polk's murder, the father and daughter had reconnected. Liggins is divorced from Polk's mother. Liggins and Polk spoke on the phone regularly and visited one another, Liggins said, and became friends.

"I was so happy, I had my baby back," Liggins said.

During his statement to the court during Santoin Russell's sentencing, Liggins told St. Clair County Judge Milton Wharton that he was haunted by his daughter's brutal murder. Polk, 29, was beaten to death with a tire iron on Feb. 3, 2008, on the walkway of the First Western Inn at 1941 Collinsville Road in Fairmont City.

Prosecutor Deb Phillips told jurors during the July trial that Russell's co-defendant, Terryon Triplett, hit Polk "so hard her skull popped" and that Russell held her down and shoved the tire iron into her mouth.

Triplett pleaded guilty and received a 20-year prison sentence. He testified against Russell during his trial.

Kendra Merideth, 27, of Cahokia, still faces first-degree murder charges. She is accused of holding down Polk's legs during the attack.

Liggins told the judge he felt he should have been there to protect his daughter and he can't rid himself of the knowledge that his daughter was tortured in a motel room, then crawled out onto the walkway where she died.

"I fear what she felt in that moment," Liggins said. "And I wonder, 'Did I fail my daughter?'"

Ray Russell then took the stand as a character witness for his son. He was serving in the U.S. Navy when his youngest child, Santoin, was born. Later, Ray Russell joined the U.S. Postal Service and moved the family to the metro-east, where Santoin Russell went to high school and played football at O'Fallon Township High School.

Santoin Russell's parents have been married for 30 years, Ray Russell said, and encouraged all of their children to be in sports and stay out of trouble.

But in 2003, Santoin Russell and his friends were out at a teen club in Belleville celebrating a football win when he was hit by a security guard. Santoin Russell hit his head on a curb and was hospitalized for two weeks at St. Louis University Hospital with a head injury, his father said.

When he awoke, Santoin Russell couldn't remember anything, even his parents. Since then, Ray Russell asserted his son hasn't been the same.

Santoin Russell graduated from high school and received some trade school certificates. He worked and fathered three children.

"I couldn't imagine something like this happening to us," Ray Russell said.

Prosecutor Phillips called Santoin Russell a "cold-blooded killer with no regard for human life." She asked the judge to sentence Russell to 60 years in prison.

Defense lawyer Cathy McElroy countered that Russell had a minimal criminal history, a solid employment history, an education, a loving family and the opportunity to rehabilitate himself.

"Santoin Russell is not a heartless soulless individual without a moral compass," McElroy said. "He's a father. He's a son."

Russell still faces charges in connection to the murder of Blake Harvey, who was found strangled on Sept. 21, 2008, at his home at 621 E. State St. in O'Fallon.

Just before he was sentenced, Santoin Russell stood and faced the judge. He proclaimed his innocence and said he would continue to fight to prove he didn't kill Polk, then he turned and looked at Liggins, who sat close to the investigators who worked to solve Polk's murder.

"I'm sorry for all the losses you endured," he said, then glanced over to his father who sat a few seats away Polk's father.

Contact reporter Beth Hundsdorfer at bhundsdorfer@bnd.com or 239-2570.

Contact reporter Beth Hundsdorfer at bhundsdorfer@bnd.com or 239-2570.