Pittsburgh Man Pleads Guilty To Death Of Child

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A western Pennsylvania man who told police he was sleeping next to a 3-year-old girl with a loaded shotgun under his pillow last year and awoke to a loud bang and found the child dead has pleaded guilty to a murder charge. Fifty-two-year-old Marlin Pritchard of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty Tuesday to third-degree murder and a firearms charge. Allegheny County prosecutors said there was no agreement in place on sentencing slated for June 17. Pritchard told investigators he slept with the gun because of threats from others. The Tribune-Review reports that his girlfriend told police she had been babysitting the girl and another child that February 2020 night.