NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A second man is going on trial in connection with the killings of a former Slippery Rock woman and her two daughters during a 2007 home invasion in Connecticut.

Thirty-one-year-old Joshua Komisarjevsky is set to go on trial starting today in New Haven Superior Court and faces a possible death sentence if convicted. His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death last year.

Authorities say the two paroled burglars broke into a Cheshire home in July 2007, beat Dr. William Petit and killed his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, formerly of Slippery Rock, and their two daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley. Dr. Petit survived.

Prosecutors say Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit, and Komisarjevsky sexually molested Michaela. The two girls were tied up and died of smoke inhalation after the home was set on fire.

Hawke-Petit’s parents also live in Slippery Rock.