A 28-year-old Victoria man has been indicted by a Lunenburg Grand Jury on charges of first-degree murder, malicious injury and child abuse: serious injury.

The charges against Mario Davis stem from his arrest in June for allegedly killing his 16-month-old stepdaughter.

A call was made to police on June 9 reporting the child had fallen down the stairs. When ambulances arrived, they found the girl — Aja Cofield — unresponsive, Lunenburg County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Clement said in June.

She was kept on life support until she died days later.

A report later concluded the injuries to the child were not consistent with a fall down the stairs, but with severe head trauma.

Davis was detained at the hospital before Cofield’s death on June 11.

Authorities said Davis was transported back to Lunenburg where he was “… served with the felony warrant at 4:30 p.m. on a class 2 felony of aggravated malicious bodily injury.”

Davis was later charged with first degree murder and child abuse, serious injury according to Lunenburg Circuit Court.

Davis’ court appearance to set the date of the trial is Feb. 28 in Lunenburg Circuit Court.

According to Clement, “Davis was detained at the hospital before the child’s death on Saturday, June 11, and transported back to Lunenburg where he was served with the felony warrant at 4:30 p.m. on a class 2 felony of aggravated malicious bodily injury which carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.”

“Initial investigation by (authorities) and the Department of Social Services has revealed that Davis and a three-month-old baby were the only other persons in the home at the time, and that the medical opinion is that the injuries to the child are not consistent with a fall down the stairway, but consistent with abusive head trauma,” Clement said at the time of the alleged incident.

An autopsy was conducted by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

The child’s mother, Marrisa Cofield, was said to be at work at a retail store in South Hill at the time of the incident, Clement said.