New Orleans Police say that a man fatally beat his 2-month-old daughter last week because she would not stop crying.
Micah Short, 21, initially told authorities that he tripped over a box while carrying the infant, Macayla Short, causing the girl to hit her head on a crib, according to an official police statement.
Short later admitted that, in fact, he became irate with the child's "excessive" weeping, police said. The incident happened Monday around 8 a.m.
Short and his wife rushed the girl to the hospital, where she died despite several attempts to resuscitate her.
The suspect's brother told local media that the incident was out of character and a mistake.
"She was a good kid. She wasn't here for that long, but it's sad to hear what happened to her," Macayla's uncle, Junior Short, told WDSU. "My brother, he's not the offensive type of person. He ain't never been to jail, so I don't know what he doing right now."
The Orleans Parish coroner's office concluded that the child suffered blunt force trauma to the head, the Times-Picayune reported.
Authorities booked Short on Tuesday and charged him with first-degree murder and cruelty to a juvenile. He is being held at Orleans Parish Prison.