INDIANA, Pa. — A state trooper alleges that a Pennsylvania man told him he killed his girlfriend's toddler because the child bit and hit him and he "started to freak out."

Joshua Louis Turner, 20, of Black Lick is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 19-month-old Leonard McIntire, who died in a Pittsburgh hospital a few days after he was beaten in October 2008.

Police say Turner initially told them the child fell. But Trooper Timothy Lipniskis of the Indiana barracks testified Monday that Turner later admitted beating the child.