<text>  A 26-year-old man has been found guilty of sodomizing and strangling to death his girlfriends four-month-old baby daughter in a horrific 2012 attack following just four hours of jury deliberations. Jordan Lafayette Prince was convicted on Thursday of brutally sexually assaulting and murdering little Ashlynn Lillith Peters at his mobile home in St Charles, Missouri. He is now facing life in prison. At a hearing earlier this year, Princes girlfriend and Ashlynns mother, Jessica Lynn Howell, 27, was jailed for 25 years after admitting felony murder and child abuse in relation to the infants death. Howell had encouraged her boyfriend to sexually assault Ashlynn in the sickening attack, authorities said. The helpless baby was then beaten and strangled by Prince, apparently to silence her crying. Guilty: Jordan Lafayette Prince pictured in his police mug shot has been found guilty of sodomizing and strangling to death his girlfriends four-month-old baby daughter following four hours of jury deliberations . On Thursday, Prince showed no emotion as he was convicted of first-degree murder, child abuse and forcible sodomy in the killing of Ashlynn in December 2012, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch. His attorney had argued that prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Prince had hurt Ashlynn, claiming no DNA belonging to the suspect had been found to support their claims. Ashlynn was rushed to hospital on the morning of her death after being discovered lifeless and alone inside Princes home in Deerfield Village. Despite medics best efforts, she later died of her injuries. Although her cause of death was ruled to be asphyxiation, prosecutors said the forcible sodomy - carried out with an unknown object - had caused enough internal bleeding to have killed her. Shocking: Prince was convicted on Thursday of brutally sexually assaulting and murdering little Ashlynn Lillith Peters pictured with her mother, Jessica Lynn Howell, who has been jailed in relation to her death Scene: On Thursday, Prince showed no emotion as he was convicted of first-degree murder, child abuse and forcible sodomy in the killing of Ashlynn at his mobile home pictured in St Charles, Missouri, in 2012 . During Thursdays hearing, assistant prosecutor Phil Groenweghe said Ashlynns future hopes, dreams and achievements had been snuffed out for one morning of sexual fun by this defendant. Earlier in court, forensics expert Dan Fahnestock had testified that bloodstains found on the infants blanket on the day of her assault and death were consistent with both the victims and Princes DNA. But he admitted he did not know how or when the blanket had been stained. Meanwhile, medical examiner Dr Mary Case told the court Ashlynns neck bruises were consistent with strangulation. She also detailed the horrific injuries that Ashlynn had suffered during the sexual assault. They included severe blood loss that totaled around one-third of the infants blood volume, STL reported. Convictions: At an earlier hearing Howell pictured, left, in her mug shot, 27, was jailed for 25 years after admitting felony murder and child abuse in relation to Ashlynns death. Right, Prince in a previous mug shot . During an interview with police, Prince, who had been dating Howell for around five months, reportedly told officers he had become frustrated with the baby because she wouldnt stop crying. Howell, who was apparently sleeping at the time, pleaded guilty in January to her involvement in her daughters death. She also has two older children, a boy and a girl, St Charles Patch reported. Shockingly, court documents said she had sent a series of text messages to her boyfriend - when Ashlynn was just one month old - encouraging him to have sexual contact with her baby daughter. Prince - who is not Ashlynns father and was previously convicted in 2007 of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16 - will be sentenced by Circuit Judge Nancy Schneider on April 30. 