COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A teen father faces three criminal charges after his 22-month-old daughter’s death was ruled suspicious.
NBC 4 reported with an update.
The Franklin County Grand Jury returned a three-count indictment on 18-year-old Dwann Allen Friday, according to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien.
The new charges included one count of murder, one count of felonious assault and one count of child endangering.
Allen has been accused of causing the death of 22-month-old Zy’niah Braswell.
Bexley police officials said Allen made a 911 call Wednesday, saying his daughter “fell and was breathing really, really funny.”
Police arrived at Allen’s Bexley apartment on Mayfield Place and found the toddler unresponsive.
She died hours later at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Authorities said Zy’niah’s injuries were inconsistent with what Allen said initially happened.
An autopsy revealed she died of injuries to her head, chest and abdomen.
Allen told police he was punishing Zy’niah after she kept playing in toilet water. It was then he allegedly spanked her, grabbed and squeezed her by the abdomen and put her on a TV stand. He said she fell off the stand. That’s all according to court records read Friday.
Authorities were not identifying the mother currently.
Allen also had a juvenile bind over hearing Friday before Judge Seer in a separate aggravated robbery and kidnapping case from an incident that occurred in April of 2008 when Allen was 17 years old.
Allen was arraigned on murder charges last Friday and was given a $250,000 cash surety bond. He originally was arrested on child endangering charges.
Allen’s arraignment on the new charges was set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
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