FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A 12-year-old boy accused of fatally beating his baby cousin after she interrupted a cartoon pleaded no contest Wednesday and was sentenced to a juvenile treatment center.

No specific time period was attached to the sentence, but the boy's attorney said he will likely remain at the Tampa-area facility for 18 months. If convicted as an adult, he could have faced life in prison.

"It is a very good deal for him," said Gordon Weekes, who represented the boy. "This is an opportunity for the child to have a second chance at restoring his life and becoming a productive member of society."

After the time in the treatment facility, the boy is to be released to his mother and remain on probation until he turns 21.

The boy was baby-sitting his 17-month-old cousin at her Lauderhill home at the time of her death in January. Police say he became enraged when she interrupted a cartoon he was watching and struck her with a wooden baseball bat several times.

She was later pronounced dead and was found to have suffered several skull fractures.

A message left for Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider, who prosecuted the case, was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Weekes said it was because of the prosecution's cooperation and the community's recognition of the defendant's age that an effective sentence was reached.

"The community never let anyone forget that this child was a 12-year-old," he said.