DAYTON — A woman accused of killing her 1-month-old daughter in a microwave oven told her boyfriend she killed the baby and that the girl would still be alive if he wasn’t out cheating, the boyfriend testified Monday.

Terrell Talley said he and China Arnold took Paris Talley to the hospital where she was pronounced dead in August 2005, and Arnold told him she killed her baby.

In a phone conversation months later, Arnold told him of a possible reason for the death, Talley testified.

“She told me if I wouldn’t be out cheating, my baby would still be alive,” Talley testified.

Arnold has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Under questioning by defense attorney Jon Paul Rion, Talley acknowledged telling people that he didn’t have any idea what happened to the baby.

The defense has said people other than Arnold had access to the baby and that she was intoxicated to the point of blacking out when the baby died.

Talley testified Arnold was drunk, but not so drunk that she wouldn’t know what happened.

Talley said he and Arnold had finished nearly a pint of alcohol they purchased the night of Aug. 29, 2005, after fighting over Talley’s doubts that he fathered the infant.

Talley said his sister watched Arnold’s children while the couple drove to a liquor store and went to a park where they drank and continued arguing. After arriving back at their apartment, Talley said he slapped Arnold and pushed her to the ground after she bit his lip.

Talley said Arnold later left the apartment to get cigarettes, passing out on a couch when she returned. He said he left for an apartment he described as a “place where we set down and sold dope and made money,” not returning to the apartment until between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Talley said Arnold was sleeping on the couch with the baby lying at her feet, and he also fell asleep. After Arnold got up to get her sons ready for school, Talley said he saw a red mark on the baby’s face and noticed she was stiff and cold, and the couple took her to the hospital.

Talley also testified that he originally told police he returned home between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., during the time frame investigators believe the baby died.

In other testimony Monday, retired Detective Doyle Burke testified that Arnold told detectives her boyfriend had been watching the baby, but Burke said he caught Arnold in several lies and later determined the baby was with her.

Neighbor Marcellena Perry testified that she heard Talley say the baby was cold and then yell that the baby wasn’t breathing. She agreed with Rion’s statements that Arnold was drunk on the evening of Aug. 29, and could barely walk or talk. Perry also acknowledged that she had a sexual relationship with Talley while he was dating Arnold.

Talley’s sister, Lionda Talley, said she joined Arnold earlier in the evening when she went to get cigarettes but insisted on driving because Arnold had been drinking.

Arnold’s trial began last week in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court and is expected to continue another two weeks.

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