Alexander McConnell appeared in Riley County Court Monday afternoon for an arraignment while facing charges of 1st degree murder and child abuse. McConnell’s attorney Laura Ingalls requested a continuance of the arraignment from Judge Wilson for a month, while negotiations could continue with the State. A new arraignment date was scheduled for April 27 at 2:30 p.m.

McConnell was arrested on September 29, 2014 following the death of a child identified as “AKM” in the in the case’s criminal affidavit. The document said that McConnell’s wife Angela had left the child with Alexander for a short period of time, and when she return the child was not breathing. The infant was taken to Mercy Regional Hospital in Manhattan, and then to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO where “AKM” was pronounced dead at a around 8 p.m. that day.

During the autopsy, the medical examiner found the child had experienced previous substantial bleeding in the skull, as well as injuries to it’s neck, head, and ribs.