Fayetteville, N.C. — A trial began Thursday in Cumberland County Superior Court for a Fort Bragg Soldier charged in the 2003 death of his stepdaughter.

Daniel Carlson and his wife, Karla, faced first-degree murder charges. She pleaded guilty last year.

Detectives said Andrea Chavarria was malnourished and covered in bruises when she died in 2003. Detectives said they found Carlson alone with the girl after he called 911 and said his stepdaughter was not breathing.

An autopsy shows Chavarria died of severe injuries caused by trauma. She died about five hours after Carlson called police.

He had married the girl’s mother six months before the death and had returned to their home just over a month earlier after a mission in Columbia training members of the military there.