Jury selection under way in Pa. toddler's slaying

INDIANA, Pa. (AP) — Jury selection has begun in the trial of a western Pennsylvania man who faces the death penalty if he’s convicted of first-degree murder for reportedly beating his girlfriend’s toddler because the boy wouldn’t stop crying.

Joshua Louis Turner, 20, of Black Lick, is charged with killing 19-month-old Leonard McIntire, who died in a Pittsburgh hospital a few days after he was beaten Oct. 27 at home. The boy died of head trauma.

Police say Turner at first said he was carrying the toddler on his shoulders when the boy fell and was hurt. But police say Turner eventually acknowledged beating, shaking, punching and biting the child.

Opening statements are expected today in the trial in Indiana County. Jury selection is expected to take much of this week.