NORRISTOWN, Pa., July 20 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania prosecutor says she will seek the death penalty for a man charged with raping and killing a 9-year-old neighbor.
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman told the court prosecutors would seek the death penalty for James Lee Troutman, 24, as his lawyer entered a not guilty plea to charges of first- and second-degree murder, rape, involuntary intercourse, kidnapping, sex with a minor, false imprisonment and abuse of a corpse in the death Skyler Kauffman, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday.
Kauffman's body was found wrapped in a comforter and tossed into a trash bin hours after she disappeared from her Souderton apartment May 9.
Defense attorney William Craig Penglase said he would offer a mental health defense since Troutman had "engaged in mental health treatment throughout his lifetime."
Common Pleas Judge William R. Carpenter in Norristown set a trial date of Jan. 9.
