FPD detectives are investigating the death of a 1-year-old girl

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – Detectives with the Fairbanks Police Department (FPD) are investigating the death of a 1-year-old girl.

According to an FPD press release, early Friday morning, the Fairbanks Emergency Communications Center received a 1600 call about the death of a child near Central Ave.

Fairbanks Police and Fairbanks Fire Department medics responded to the scene and pronounced a 1-year-old girl dead at the residence.

“It was observed that the child has multiple wounds on his body consistent with rape,” the press release said. FPD detectives and a crime scene investigator were called to the scene.

The child’s mother said that when she entered the house to wake up her daughter, she found her dead. The mother said she had been working the previous day and the child was in the care of her boyfriend, 31-year-old Zachary Johnson.

The mother said that when she got home from work last night, Johnson told her that her daughter was sleeping.

Johnson initially claimed the child had been “fighting” with his 6-year-old sister.

“When confronted that the injuries observed on the child were inconsistent with injuries sustained by the two young brothers, Johnson gave differing accounts of how the child was injured,” police said in a statement.

According to the press release, Johnson admitted to causing multiple injuries and using excessive force because he was trying to put the child to sleep so he could play video games. Johnson admitted that his actions “probably” caused the girl’s death.

Johnson was arrested and booked into the Fairbanks Correctional Center and charged with second-degree murder.

If anyone has additional information about this case, please contact FPD detectives at [email protected] or call 907-450-6550.

If you believe a child has been abused, please contact law enforcement or call the Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-478-4444.

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