W. Pa. man guilty in beating death of boy
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A jury has found a Pittsburgh-area man guilty of third-degree murder in the beating death of his 11-year-old stepson last year.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours Tuesday before finding 30-year-old Anthony Bush guilty. Police say Bush told them he beat the boy with wooden sticks, metal rods and a belt.
Defense attorneys had claimed the beating was abusive discipline that was not intended to kill.
The boy’s mother, 31-year-old Cynthia McKee, pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter. Authorities say McKee was at work during the beating, and after she arrived home and found her son unresponsive waited over an hour before calling 911. McKee is awaiting sentencing.
The boy died at a hospital the next morning.
Bush will be sentenced April 23.