SYRACUSE (New York) - A SYRACUSE teenager is charged with murder after authorities say he beat a toddler to death because she had a potty-training accident.

Detectives say 15-year-old Anthony Weakfall Jr spent nearly an hour beating 20-month-old Imani Jennings with a metal rod, a cable cord, bedsprings and his fists before leaving for school on Friday.

They say the girl's mother, 18-year-old Cherron Patterson, came home around 3pm (3am, Singapore time) and found the youngster almost unrecognisable.

Paramedics pronounced the girl dead at the scene.

Weakfall is being held without bail in a youth detention home, where officials refused to answer any questions about his status.

Patterson is in Onondaga County jail on felony assault and child endangerment charges. She has not yet been assigned an attorney. -- AP