Carlsbad man arrested in death of 8-year-old girl

A Carlsbad man suspected of causing the death of a young girl was arrested Aug. 1, Carlsbad police said.

Juan Lerma, 32, was charged with abuse of a child resulting in death, tampering with evidence and intimidation of a witness, per a news from the Carlsbad Police Department.

Police were called to a residence in the 2600 block of Davis Street around 2 p.m. Saturday after receiving a tip that an 8-year-old girl was dead, per the news release.

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Officers made contact with Lerma and took him to the Carlsbad Police Department for questioning, according to the release.

While on scene, officers located the girl, who was found to be deceased.

The name of the girl was not released to the media. Investigators did not speculate on the manner or cause of the girl’s death.

Lerma is being held in jail on no bail and no bond, per the jail’s website.

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He was arrested Saturday at 7:38 p.m. and was booked into the Eddy County Detention Center nearly 20 minutes later, the jail’s website indicated.

No preliminary appearance date was set for Lerma as of Sunday afternoon, per online court records.

Anyone who may have any information about this incident is asked to call the Carlsbad Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at 575-885-2111 extension 2240.

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This is a developing story and more information will be published when it becomes available.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad man arrested in death of 8-year-old girl

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