A 25-year-old Trenton man was arrested and charged Wednesday night for the murder of his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri reported.
Maison Andres Torres is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Police say he is being held in the Mercer County Correction Center pending a detention hearing scheduled for August 27.
According to police, at approximately 4:20 p.m. on August 21, 2019, Trenton police responded to a home in the 1500 block of Chestnut Avenue on a report of an unresponsive 28-month-old girl who fell down the stairs.
The victim, identified as Lia Victoria Merino-Rodriguez, was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
Preliminary investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton Police Department indicates Torres caused Lia’s death by burning her with scalding water, striking her with his fists and suffocating her with his hands.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.
Despite having been charged, all persons are presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.