Trial testimony starts for slain NY girl's parents
PALERMO, N.Y. - PALERMO, N.Y. (AP) — Testimony has begun in the trial of a central New York couple charged with endangering the welfare of their 11-year-old daughter before she was slain last summer.
Jurors spent the first night of testimony Wednesday in the Palermo Town Court trial of Lindsey and Lynn Maxwell looking at photographs of the Maxwell's house.
Child endangerment charges were filed against them after their daughter, Erin Maxwell, was found strangled in August in the family's Oswego County home.
The Maxwells are accused of forcing Erin to live in filthy conditions that authorities say included piles of feces from the more than 100 cats living in the home.
Police say the girl was killed by her 27-year-old stepbrother, Alan Jones. He faces a murder trial in September.
The Maxwell's attorney, Salvatore Lanza, has said the family believes the girl's death was a tragic accident.
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