BATON ROUGE, La. -- A jury in Baton Rouge has ordered the death penalty for a St. Louis man convicted of killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son in 2007.
The verdict was returned Wednesday against 32-year-old Dacarius Holliday, who had been convicted of first-degree murder in the beating death of Darian Coon. The jury deliberated the punishment for about 90 minutes.
A prosecutor said the boy had 75 bruises and a lacerated liver and kidney. The defense contended that Holliday was reckless and negligent, but never meant to kill the toddler.
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