According to a press release from the Kemmerer Police Department (KPD,) 51-year-old Cheri Marler has been arrested after officers responded to her residence just before 3:40 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, on a call regarding an unconscious five-year-old girl.

Sergeant Jake Walker located the child wounded and unresponsive on a couch in the living room. He rendered first aid and called for an ambulance. Marler allegedly told officers that the child had fallen down steep wooden stairs into the basement, rendering her unresponsive. She added that the child’s previous injuries were caused by falls from a swing set and retaining wall. EMS crews arrived and “took over life-saving measures that had been started by Sergeant Walker,” according to the press release.

The responding officers began a criminal investigation when Walker reportedly noticed that the wounds on the girl were inconsistent with Marler’s story of a fall. The child’s injuries included multiple bruises, cuts and open wounds, as well as burns and stretching of the skin. There were also old and new head injuries, which were described as brain bleeds.

The EMS personnel transported the child to South Lincoln Medical Center. After some time, she was air lifted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. The girl succumbed to her injuries at approximately 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26.

“As a result of this and the investigation that occurred after the initial call,” the release reads, “Marler was arrested and charged with murder in the first degree, and aggravated child abuse.” Marler appeared in court on Monday, Nov. 28. The child’s mother had reportedly asked Marler to watch her two children beginning in September. It was found that the girl had multiple rib injuries, a punctured lung, several old and new head injuries, a broken back, multiple lacerations, scrapes and bruises.

After additional questioning, Marler confessed that she had hit and kicked the girl. The girl’s sibling had been abused less severely. “As a result of this and the investigation that occurred after the initial call,” the press release reads, “Marler was arrested and charged with murder in the first degree, and aggravated child abuse.”

The investigation is active and ongoing, and KPD thanks the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office, Diamondville Police Department, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, South Lincoln EMS, South Lincoln Medical Center, and Primary Children’s Hospital for their assistance throughout the case.

A GoFundMe page has been created by friends of the girl’s family. The page provides the girl’s given name as Annabelle. According to the page, all proceeds will be used to pay for funeral expenses. The URL is https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-baby-girl-annabelle. At this time, the page has raised $4,570 of its $8,000 goal.