Jury to mull Pa. death of pregnant girlfriend

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Jury deliberations are slated to begin Tuesday in the death-penalty trial of a central Pennsylvania man charged in the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend.

The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era of Lancaster says closing arguments in the Lancaster County case against 23-year-old Mathew Becker were concluded today.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman said there was no way that the bullet that killed 21-year-old Allison Walsh and her unborn daughter in their Mastersonville home in August 2001 was fired accidentally.

But defense attorney Dennis Charles called the 22-caliber pistol “an accident waiting to happen,” and said his client should be facing nothing more than a negligence charge.

Defense attorneys say the newly purchased handgun went off while Becker was showing it to Walsh.