A man accused of killing his 3-month-old daughter in late April has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and felony child abuse, according to online court records.
The case against Bryan Timothy Arruda, 28, is set to go to trial on Dec. 11 in the Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court, records show.
Arruda appeared in circuit court Friday afternoon for an arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to both charges.
According to a criminal complaint filed in open court, Arruda was home alone with his daughter, Emery Alaine Arruda, on April 28 when she was injured.
Police and emergency medical technicians were called to the home, located in the 7600 block of Crestview Drive at 3:21 p.m., James City County Police said in May.
When police arrived, Arruda said his daughter had been in a “bouncy chair” on top of a coffee table, unsecured, when she fell from the table. He told police he had gone to the bathroom and came out to find her crying, the complaint states.
Arruda said he picked up the baby and attempted to feed her, but she did not eat then became unresponsive.
The 3-month-old was taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, according to the complaint.
Hospital staff discovered the baby had multiple skull fractures with blood clots forming, documents state.
The baby died the following day.
A child abuse physician, Robin Foster, at the hospital said she found evidence of “multiple blunt force” trauma injuries, indicating child abuse. She added that the injuries were not in “anyway shape or form” consisted with the fall Arruda described, the complaint states.
She added the fractures on the skull were consistent with a “crush” of the skull, meaning the fractures extended across the forehead and into the orbital rim.
On April 29, the day the baby died, Arruda repeated that his daughter had fallen from the bouncy chair, but added he had consumed “up to” six beers the day she was injured.
A Department of Forensic Science report dated June 16 shows Arruda’s blood tested positive for ethanol and “cocaine/benzoylecgonine.”
