According to a report by the Altoona Mirror, 23 year old Drue Burd will face murder charges for allegedly smothering the 16 month old baby of his girlfriend in 2018. Burd is charged with putting his hand over the child’s mouth and nose in order to get her to fall asleep. The child became unresponsive and was rushed to UPMC Altoona before being flown to Pittsburgh where she died. The D.A.’s Office says the child was tortured during the assault, which is why it is seeking the death penalty. Presiding Judge Elizabeth Doyle expects most of the pretrial preparation to be completed by July 20^th, with the trial scheduled to begin September 12th. It is expected to last approximately 3 weeks.