Washington father charged in beating of toddler pleads insanity

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A man accused of throwing his 2-year-old daughter out a first-floor motel room window has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to an attempted murder charge.

The Columbian reports that Kyle Stephen Brian Holder entered the plea Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court, following months of mental health treatment to restore his competency.

Prosecutors say the toddler and her mother were sleeping in their room at the Sunnyside Motel in Salmon Creek on June 28 when the 33-year-old defendant walked in, grabbed the girl and threw her out an open window onto a concrete walkway. They said he then continued to assault the girl; a man in a neighboring room stopped the attack by hitting him with a baseball bat.

Holder reportedly told officers he had to "crush her head so she could go up to the sky."

His trial is set for May 1.