DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Jury selection began Monday in the retrial of a woman accused of killing her month-old daughter by burning her in a microwave oven.

Defendant China Arnold appeared in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court with her attorneys, six months after a judge declared a mistrial in the case and said new evidence had surfaced to bolster the woman’s innocence claim.

Arnold, 28, is charged with aggravated murder in the 2005 death of her daughter, Paris Talley. Arnold could face the death penalty if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty.

Jury selection was expected to last three to four days.

Visiting Judge John Kessler declared the mistrial Feb. 11 after he privately heard testimony from a juvenile who said he was at Arnold’s apartment complex on the night the baby died. The judge, who declared the mistrial just as closing arguments were to begin, did not give details about the juvenile’s testimony.

The Dayton Daily News reported that the mistrial was declared after a man told defense attorneys that his son claimed to have found the baby in the oven and pulled her out.

The boy, who was 5 at the time, identified an older child as the person who may have put Paris Talley in the oven, saying the older child had a history of putting cats and baby dolls into microwaves, the younger boy’s father told the newspaper.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have been barred by the court from talking publicly about the case.

During the trial, prosecution witnesses said Arnold admitted to killing the baby by putting her in the microwave, that the baby was small enough to fit into the oven and that a sample of DNA found on the ceiling of the appliance matched that of the child.

Defense witnesses said Arnold — who did not testify — told them she had nothing to do with the baby’s death, didn’t know how it happened and expressed shock at being told the child may have been burned in a microwave.

Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion said other people had access to the baby, people questioned about the case changed their stories and Arnold was intoxicated to the point of blacking out when the child died.

Prosecutors filed court documents countering defense claims that someone other than the mother may be responsible for killing the baby. Assistant Montgomery County Prosecutor David Franceschelli called the claim a “fanciful” account contradicted by evidence.

 

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---