Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania father has been convicted of third-degree murder in the starvation death of his 23-month-old daughter, who weighed just 10 pounds when she died in 2016.
It took Fayette County jurors about two hours to convict Michael Wright Jr. on Thursday.
Wright told reporters he was "innocent" as he was escorted to jail afterward.
The Herald-Standard reports his lawyers argued the pressures of parenthood got the better of him.
Police say the toddler, Lydia Wright, began foaming at the mouth and stopped breathing after she was left in a car seat for over 13 hours at the family's squalid Uniontown home in February 2016.
The child's mother, Andrea Dusha, entered a plea to third-degree murder and agreed to testify against Wright Jr. She's expected to receive a sentence of 9 ½ to 19 years in prison next week.
Wright's sentencing is set for May 24.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
