JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- A Jacksonville man charged with the murder of his 7-week-old child went before a judge in Onslow County Thursday.

Onslow County deputies arrested and charged 25-year-old Zachary Littell Wednesday for the death of his infant daughter.

Investigators say Littell told them the baby, named Harper, had fallen from a portable baby bathtub while left unattended on Jan. 3 at Littell’s home on Denise Drive in Jacksonville.

Harper was taken to Onslow Memorial Hospital and transferred to Vidant Medical Center where she died two days later.

Authorities say an autopsy shows blunt force trauma to be the cause of death. The medical examiner says the child’s injuries did not match up with Littell's story.

Spectrum News spoke with the maternal grandmother of the infant. She says the mother of the child was not home when the incident happened and had just returned to work that day following her maternity leave.

She also says Littell and her daughter lost an 8-month-old daughter in 2016 to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

That child's death certificate lists her cause of death as undetermined.

Littell will remain in the Onslow County Detention Center without bond. His next court date is Feb. 15.