N.J. man accused of killing 4-year-old girl he was supposed to be babysitting – NJ.com

Authorities on Friday upgraded charges against a New Jersey man arrested over the death of his girlfriend’s four-year-old daughter after a medical examiner found the girl died of blunt-force trauma.

Jamel Welch, 21, now faces first-degree murder charges, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Welch was initially accused of child endangerment after first-responders were called to an Orange home where the young girl, Laniyah Bloodworth, was found unresponsive on December 30.

The four-year-old was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where she was pronounced dead.

Authorities said they found bruises on the girl’s body. Welch, described as the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, was babysitting her at the time.

A state medical examiner determined earlier this week that the child died from blunt force trauma, ruling her death a homicide, authorities said.

Prosecutors upgraded the charges against Welch, who remains held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, on Friday.

It was not clear Saturday whether he had retained or been assigned an attorney.

A GoFundMe created to pay for Laniyah Bloodworth’s funeral costs described the child as a “princess.”

“She was a talented ball of light who would light up any room she walked in,” family members wrote. “She did not deserve to leave this world brutally the way she did.”

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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter.