A man charged with the murder of his 9-week-old daughter will remain in jail without bond.
Dunn police officers arrested Tarryion Donald Byrd on Tuesday for killing his child the day before.
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According to the Dunn Police Department, EMS first received a report that a child fell inside a home on West Broad Street Monday afternoon. The infant was transported to Betsy Johnson Hospital.
Police said despite their attempts to stabilize the child for transport to a trauma center, the infant died from her injuries at the hospital.
A preliminary report by the Chief Medical Examiner determined the child died from blunt force trauma to her head and sustained multiple rib fractures.
"As with any information that unfolds, you’ll want to interview anybody who was around the child at the time," said Dunn police chief Lynn Gay.
As a result, Gay brought Byrd into custody. He had been visiting Dunn from New York.
Neighbors saw the police investigation unfold outside their doors.
"I never thought something like that would happen," said Rodney Adams, who lives nearby. "This is a really nice neighborhood, but you never know what goes on at other people’s houses."
According to the executive director of South Mountain Children and Family Services, which runs Harnett County's Children's Advocacy Center, the vast majority of child abuse cases they see involve a parent or guardian.
"Most of the abuse takes place at the hands of people the child knows, whether it's parent or caretaker, relative," said executive director Chris Jernigan. "It's not that stranger that we always hear about on the street."
The organization operates 10 children's advocacy centers across the state, where they assist law enforcement agencies and social services to interview victims and provide mental health services.
"There should never be the loss of a child, but when there is at the hands of parents, it's just so much more troubling," Jernigan said. "That's kind of why we do what we do, so that we can help prevent this type of tragedy."
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is assisted in processing the crime scene.
Byrd's next court appearance is scheduled for June 16.