An eastern Pennsylvania man has been charged with third-degree murder in the death of a 13-month-old girl two days after Christmas.
Twenty-nine-year-old Joseph Brennan II of Ashland is also charged in Schuylkill County with aggravated and simple assault, involuntary manslaughter, child and reckless endangerment and falsely incriminating another person.
Brennan was arraigned Friday and sent to the county prison without bail in the Dec. 27 death of Alivia Delrio.
The (Pottsville) Republican-Herald reported that authorities said Brennan initially said he had seen a 5-year-old child strike the girl with a plastic toy, but a forensic pathologist ruled that out and the defendant changed his story three times. A coroner ruled the cause of death as blunt force trauma.
Court documents don't list a defense attorney who could offer comment.
