York, Pa. (AP) - Closing arguments are being held in the central Pennsylvania capital trial of a man accused of beating the 2-year-old daughter of his ex-girlfriend to death with a video game controller last year.

Twenty-eight-year-old Harve Johnson, of York, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 2008 death of Darisabel Baez.

Her mother, Neida Baez, pleaded guilty last month to third-degree murder. She testified that Darisabel awoke at about 5 a.m. and Johnson later beat her, saying she needed to learn not to be up that early in the morning. The child died the next day.

Upon cross-examination, Baez acknowledged that she also had previously struck the girl. In a taped interview with police, Johnson called the child's death an accident and he considered killing himself before he called 911.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 Email To Friend