The father of a young girl who died of exposure had knocked her unconscious because he was angry, then left her outside in subfreezing temperatures

Associated Press:

Nyia Miangel Page, who was about to turn 2, was found dead Sunday on a wooded knoll about a 10 minute walk from the family's home.

Tiny footprints in the snow suggested she had gotten up and wandered around before she died, police said.

Her father, William Lorenzo Page, 23, of Braddock, was arrested on charges of criminal homicide, kidnapping, false reports and simple assault. He did not have an attorney in court Thursday morning, and was jailed without bond.

Page told police he woke up early Saturday and found the girl awake and playing near a mirror in the hallway, according to the criminal complaint. He said he got mad when the girl wouldn't go back to bed, so he hit her so hard she hit her head and was unconscious, the complaint said.

Page then took her outside wrapped in a blanket and left her, police said.

An autopsy determined Nyia died of hypothermia, but the Allegheny County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide because investigators said it was unreasonable to assume the child got to the wooded location alone.

The site was about a 10-minute walk from her home, a trek that would have included climbing 17 snowy steps up to a wooded knoll.

Nyia's family reported her missing Saturday morning after another child alerted them that the toddler wasn't in her bed.

Nyia's mother told police she last saw the girl after Nyia tried to crawl into bed with her parents about 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The mother told police she put the youngster back into her own bed in an upstairs room.

Police, emergency crews and bloodhounds searched in 20-degree temperatures for most of two days before finding the little girl's body.

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