Two days after his 4-year-old daughter died at a hospital after being found unresponsive at his home, a South Los Angeles man was charged today with assault on a child causing death.
Charles Richard Lee, 23, was arrested Sunday and could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted in the death of his daughter, Zaraellia Thompson, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors allege the girl was dropped off several weeks ago at Lee’s home in the 1500 block of East 42nd Street and that he physically abused her over the course of that time.
Paramedics sent to the home Sunday morning found the tot unresponsive and took her to County-USC Medical Center, where she died, authorities said.
The cause of the girl’s death was not immediately available.
Lee is due in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for arraignment on Dec. 17.
