Third trial under way in girl's death

PEORIA — The third trial is under way in Peoria for a man who's accused of shaking his former girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter to death.

The (Peoria) Journal Star reports that 31-year-old Ian Watkins of South Peoria has been locked up for nearly 10 years in the case.

Prosecutors allege that Watkins shook Kei-Anna Monroe in December 2001. Watkins, however, contends the child was choking on a hot dog and he was trying to dislodge it from her throat.

Watkins was convicted of first-degree murder in Monroe's death in 2003 and sentenced to 47 years in prison, but that conviction was overturned. In his 2006 retrial, the jury deadlocked.