An emotional Jarred Knight on Wednesday told a Butler County jury he loved the boy he now stands accused of murdering.

"I loved him like a son," said Knight, a 24-year-old construction worker/roofer from Harrisville.

Prosecutors have asserted that Knight, weeks after learning he was not the father of 13-month-old Tyler Davis, slammed the boy's head into a bathroom wall causing fatal head injuries. If convicted of first-degree murder, Knight could face the death penalty.

The prosecution, which presented 15 witnesses, wrapped up its case Wednesday morning. The defense followed, presenting all 11 witnesses on its agenda.

The jury will hear closing arguments and possibly reach a verdict today. If the verdict is guilty of first-degree murder, a second trial to determine a punishment will follow.

Knight, the first defense witness to testify in the three-day-old trial, spent more than three hours on the witness stand.

Wearing a suit and tie he said his parents bought for him, Knight told the jury Tyler's head injuries were the result of an accident that happened while he was preparing the boy for a bath.

Knight, who was baby-sitting Tyler while his mother worked, said he and the boy awoke just after noon.

After feeding Tyler a breakfast of two pieces of toast, Knight said he began preparing the boy for his second bath in 15 hours.

"He loved baths," Knight said.

Knight went on to say he'd perched Tyler on his knee and was removing the boy's clothing when Tyler kicked back.

Tyler, he said, struck his head on a bathtub, then the ceramic tile floor.

"I tried to catch him. I dropped him. He fell to the floor," Knight said.

Knight told the jury that while he was running to a neighbor's house, carrying the child to get help, he tripped over a dog. But, he said he did not believe Tyler hit the floor.

When asked about a dent police discovered in the bathroom wall, Knight said he did not recall it.

"I didn't pay attention," he said.

Knight told the jury that he had always known it was possible that Tyler had been fathered by a different man.

But he said he had a "lot of mixed feelings" when a paternity test ruled him out in May 2007. He said he was not surprised or angry, but rather sad and upset.

Still, Knight said he kept a crib, clothing and diapers in his home.

"It doesn't matter what that piece of paper says," Knight testified. "A paternity test was not going to change how I felt about him."

Knight, who claimed things were just starting to blossom between him and Tyler's mother when the boy died, cried while describing multiple photographs presented by the defense. On the pictures, he was holding, feeding and cuddling Tyler.

"It was the most memorable time of my life," Knight said.

But prosecutors noted that all of the photographs were taken before the paternity test results were known.

Knight told the jury that the state trooper who interviewed him seemed accusatory from the onset.

"Seems like he did not really care what my side of the story was," Knight said.

In addition to Knight, the defense presented a number of people from a church Knight visited while Tyler was hospitalized who described him as distraught. And the neighbors who helped Knight get help the day Tyler was hurt also testified.

Knight's mother and some of his friends testified in support of the defendant's claims and the sincerity of the relationship he had with Tyler.

"(Knight) carried him (Tyler) around like he was his favorite thing in the whole world," testified friend Dillon Snyder, 23, of Harrisville.