Jury convicts Ohio mom in microwave baby case

DAYTON, Ohio – Jurors in an Ohio woman's third trial found her guilty Friday of burning her baby daughter to death in a microwave oven.

China Arnold, 31, was convicted of aggravated murder in the death of 28-day-old Paris Talley in August 2005. Arnold could receive the death penalty. The sentencing phase will begin Monday.

Arnold's first trial ended in a mistrial. She was found guilty in the second trial, but that conviction was reversed last fall. An appeals court found there was misconduct by prosecutors and that the trial court made an error by not allowing a material witness to testify in Arnold's defense.

Prosecutors have said Arnold intentionally put the baby in the microwave after a fight with her boyfriend. The defense had argued that someone else was responsible.

Assistant Prosecutor Dan Brandt told jurors that Arnold's actions were "even more purposeful" than a slaying with a gun or knife, the Dayton Daily News reported.

"Baby Paris is without life, but she's not without a voice," Brandt told jurors in closing arguments. "Please listen to her."

Brandt said that Arnold had to carry the baby over, place her in the microwave, shut the door and press buttons. Then she waited while her child cooked to death, Brandt said.

Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion argued that the evidence pointed as much to Terrell Talley, the baby's father, as it did Arnold.

"This doesn't make sense to you," Rion told jurors. "It doesn't. I've been watching your faces."

The prosecutor cut and fit evidence to show "this loving mother somehow was so evil that she killed her baby in this way," he said.