BATON ROUGE — A man accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter three years ago now faces more severe charges.

Aaron Hawkins, 26, was previously charged with second-degree murder and cruelty to a juvenile charges in the death of his daughter.

Now, he is charged with first-degree murder.

Baton Rouge Police said that Hawkins' daughter Summer was rushed to the hospital in April 2022. Hawkins told police that the girl was unresponsive at their River Road home after she fell.

Summer Hawkins was later pronounced dead at the hospital and hospital staff later found severe bruising and other marks that appeared to be "criminally abusive" in nature.

WBRZ reported that a witness later told investigators that Hawkins was known to hit his daughter with a belt and that someone had to intervene sometime in the week leading up to her death due to his "excessive" discipline. 

Her death was ruled a homicide. Hawkins was initially arrested on cruelty to juveniles, but the booking was later upgraded to first-degree murder.

In June 2022, he was indicted on second-degree murder and cruelty charges.

On April 9 he was indicted on first-degree murder.

Both first and second-degree murder carry life sentences.