12-year-old beats toddler to death with bat, police say*

    * Story Highlights
    * The boy was arrested Saturday on first-degree murder charges,
police say
    * Boy confessed that he was home alone baby-sitting girl and toddler
    * He was arraigned in juvenile court Sunday and remained in custody
    * Case recalls saga of Lionel Tate who was 13 when convicted of a
similar crime

LAUDERHILL, Florida (AP) -- A 12-year-old boy beat a toddler to death
with a baseball bat because she was crying while he was trying to watch
TV, authorities said.

The boy, who was not identified, was arrested Saturday on first-degree
murder charges, Lauderhill police spokesman Lt. Mike Cochran said.

He was arraigned in juvenile court Sunday and remained in custody, but
it was not clear if he had an attorney or if anyone else would be
charged in the girl's death.

Cochran said the boy confessed to authorities that he was home alone
Friday baby-sitting a 10-year-old girl and the 17-month-old girl and
became angry when the toddler began to cry. The relationship between the
three was not clear.

At some point, an adult called 911. The girl, Shaloh Joseph, was rushed
to a hospital where she was pronounced dead of blunt force trauma to the
head, Cochran said.

The Miami Herald identified the boy's mother as Guerla Joseph. A
telephone listing for a Guerla Joseph in Fort Lauderdale had been
disconnected.

The case is not the first in Florida where a boy so young has been
charged in the death of a child. Lionel Tate was 12 when he beat and
stomped to death a playmate half his age in Florida.

At the time, Tate was the youngest person in modern U.S. history to
receive a life prison sentence. His attorneys initially said he
accidentally killed 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick in 1999 while imitating
pro wrestling moves.

Tate was convicted as an adult of first-degree murder, but the
conviction was thrown out in 2004, and Tate pleaded guilty to a lesser
charge.