Girl beaten to death by Xbox-obsessed father

A US man who played video games for hours each day was convicted of killing his 17-month-old daughter when she pulled down his Xbox console.

Jurors rejected arguments that Tyrone Spellman confessed to protect the child’s mother. They convicted Spellman of third-degree murder and child endangerment, for which he faces a sentence of about 23 to 47 years in prison.

Prosecutors in Philadelphia believe he pummelled Alayiah Turman, cracking her skull several times, while her pregnant mother napped in another room on September 7, 2006.

They argued that Spellman fled the house afterwards, and that the mother, Mia Turman, had no reason to go in the bedroom where the baby was found.

“He [Spellman] spent six to seven hours a day in there playing Xbox,” Assistant District Attorney James Berardinelli said.

Spellman, 27, of Philadelphia, confessed to police the next day, but defence lawyer Bobby Hoof noted that his statement came after 24 hours in custody.

A postmortem examination showed that Alayiah had suffered a broken arm about two weeks before she died — an injury that city social workers did not see on two visits to the house in late August.