A Marion, Va., man was charged with murder on Friday, which police said involved the death of his 11-month-old daughter.
Travis Ray Hester, 26, was charged with first-degree murder on Friday after his infant daughter died on July 27, the day after suffering head injuries from an incident the previous day, said Marion Police Investigator Andrew Moss.
“It was an extremely tragic incident all the way around. I don’t know what to tell you,” Moss said. “All I can say is that it was an incident in which the father was in care of the child and obviously, um, he made a bad decision.”
He declined Saturday to comment further on the circumstances surrounding the child’s death, saying the incident remains under investigation.
However, Moss said the child, Belle LeAnn Hester, was brought to the Smyth County Community Hospital emergency room on July 26, then airlifted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she died the next day.
Travis Hester was caring for the child at his father’s house where he lived when the incident occurred, Moss said, confirming that the child’s mother was at work and not present at the time of the girl’s death.
Hester is being held without bond at the regional jail in Abingdon, Va.
“More or less, the charge of first-degree murder was placed because of the severity of the incident, ... and that is the proper charge in this incident,” Moss said.
ahunter@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531
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