Defense argues evidence lacking in Illinois toddler's death

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Defense attorneys argue a southern Illinois man shouldn't be convicted of murder in a 2-year-old boy's beating death because no prosecution witnesses could say how the child was injured.

Gyasi Campbell's lawyers said during closing arguments of his trial Monday that the judge deciding the case should consider the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, maintaining the prosecution's case is based on "supposition upon supposition."

Campbell didn't testify during his trial but gave several accounts of what happened the night he was watching Kane Friess-Wylie after the boy's mother left their Belleville apartment April 13, 2017. He told investigators the boy fell into a bathtub, out of a bathtub and off a kitchen table.

The (Belleville) News-Democrat reports Judge Dennis Doyle is expected to announce his verdict Tuesday.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com