As he sat in a police interview room under suspicion of killing his 5-month-old daughter, Jay D. Decker insisted to police that he had never abused his child and that parenting wasn’t that hard.

“It’s a joyous experience,” Decker told Lawrence Police detectives Jack Cross and M.T. Brown.

Jurors saw a video recording of that scene Wednesday during the second day of Decker’s first-degree murder trial in Douglas County District Court. Decker is charged with killing Risha J. Lafferty on Oct. 14, 2005, at Edgewood Homes, 1600 Haskell Ave.

Prosecutors allege Risha suffered repeated injuries at Decker’s hands while the baby’s mother, Brandi Mae Hendrickson, worked during the day.

Coroner Erik Mitchell is expected to testify first this morning about Risha’s injuries, which included a fractured skull, signs of being shaken and 35 bruises or other external injuries, some of which appeared to be several days old.

But testimony has been inconsistent so far about how she got those injuries, and at several points Wednesday the picture of what exactly happened to Risha grew murkier. For example:

¢ Decker told police in his videotaped interview that Risha would have bruises on her body from several incidents that happened in the days leading up to her death – all of which he claimed were accidents, such as her falling off the couch and him grabbing her by the neck to catch her. But Jimmy Parker, one of Decker’s neighbors, testified that he had held Risha on his lap the night before her death and that he didn’t see any bruises on her, though she was wearing only a diaper.

¢ Decker told detectives that on the morning of Risha’s death, she fell off a mattress – a height police measured at 6 inches – and that some of her bruises would be from that. But one of the first patrol officers who arrived at Decker’s apartment after a 911 call testified that Decker said Risha wasn’t injured from that incident.

¢ Decker told detectives that, a few days before Risha’s death, he tripped and fell into the wall while holding her. He said the back of her head struck the wall and left a dent in the drywall.

Lawrence Police crime-scene detective Jim Martin held up the cutout piece of drywall for jurors to examine. It contained a round dent about the size of a baby’s head.

But Risha’s mother, Hendrickson, testified earlier in the trial that she believed the dent had been caused by Decker’s shoulder or elbow going through the drywall while she was at work. Hendrickson has testified that she believes Decker’s story that the repeated injuries to Risha were accidental.

Decker told police during the videotaped interview that after the back of Risha’s head struck the drywall she also had bruises on her forehead from her face striking his chest as the two fell together.

Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case today, and the defense plans to call witnesses, including a medical expert.