Duo face death penalty in child’s torture death
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PHILADELPHIA – Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against a Philadelphia-area couple charged in the torture death of the woman’s 3-year-old son.
Officials said Jillian Tait and Gary Lee Fellenbaum III went shopping and ate pizza as the boy lay dying after weeks of escalating abuse.
They were formally charged Wednesday with murder, child abuse, conspiracy and other crimes during their video arraignment from a Chester County prison.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the couple did not speak at the brief hearing. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges and earlier waived a preliminary hearing.
Authorities said Scott McMillan was hung upside and beaten with a frying pan before his Nov. 4 death in the family’s mobile home in Coatesville. They say his 6-year-old brother was also abused.