YORK, Pa. (AP) A jury in central Pennsylvania has decided on the death penalty for a man who beat his ex-girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter to death.

A York County jury took about two hours Monday afternoon to decide on the death penalty for 28-year-old Harve Lamar Johnson. He beat Darisabel Baez to death with a video game cord and her own hiking boot in April 2008.

The defense presented evidence Monday morning that Johnson was beaten and abused as a child. Prosecutor Tim Barker acknowledged that Johnson's childhood was ''appalling,'' but said it was neither ''an excuse nor an explanation'' for killing the child. Defense lawyer Ari Weitzman told the jury: ''I'm not asking for a pass for him. I'm asking you to save his life.''

The girl's mother, Neida Baez, pleaded guilty last month to third-degree murder.