EL DORADO, Ark. (AP) — A trial is scheduled for later this month for an El Dorado man charged with capital murder in the death of a toddler.
Desmond Evans is charged in the August 2011 death of 18-month-old Cheris Samuels. The El Dorado News-Times reports that Evans refused a plea deal with prosecutors during a court hearing Tuesday.
Attorneys say Evans rejected a deal in which he'd plead guilty to first-degree murder and receive a sentence of 40 years in prison.
Evans' trial is now set for Sept. 18.
Investigators say Evans had been watching Cheris while her mother attended a class when Cheris reportedly stopped breathing. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.
An autopsy found that the girl died from blunt-force trauma to the head.
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