Father convicted in 10-pound toddler’s starvation death

UNIONTOWN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania father has been convicted of third-degree murder in the starvation death of his 23-month-old daughter, who weighed just 10 pounds when she died in 2016.

It took Fayette County jurors about two hours to convict Michael Wright Jr. on Thursday.

Wright told reporters he was “innocent” as he was escorted to jail afterward.

The Herald-Standard reports his lawyers argued the pressures of parenthood got the better of him.

Police say the toddler, Lydia Wright, began foaming at the mouth and stopped breathing after she was left in a car seat for over 13 hours at the family’s squalid Uniontown home in February 2016.

The child’s mother, Andrea Dusha, entered a plea to third-degree murder and agreed to testify against Wright Jr. She’s expected to receive a sentence of 9 1/2 to 19 years in prison next week.

Wright’s sentencing is set for May 24.