Jury convicts Ohio man in beating death of toddler

COLUMBUS (AP) — A jury deliberated over parts of four days before finding an Ohio man guilty in the beating death of a 14-month-old boy and for tossing his body into a Columbus creek with the help of the child’s mother.

The Columbus Dispatch reports 27-year-old Kurt Flood was convicted Thursday in Columbus of murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

Flood testified he didn’t beat Cameron Beckford but did help 28-year-old Dainesha Stevens dispose of the body in December 2014. Stevens testified Flood repeatedly struck Cameron with a hair brush to “beat the demons out of him.”

Stevens pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in exchange for her testimony. She hasn’t been sentenced.

Flood’s attorney called Stevens a “pathological liar” during his closing argument.