A Florida man, the 25-year-old boyfriend of a babysitter, has been accused of killing a 1-year-old girl left in his care. He claimed the toddler’s fatal injuries occurred while he was “playing” with her after consuming marijuana.

Authorities took Deric Young into custody on Monday. He faces charges of murder during aggravated child abuse and cruelty towards a child by aggravated battery, according to court records obtained by Law&Crime.

According to a news release from the Tallahassee Police Department, officers at about 9:15 a.m. on Monday responded to a residence in the 1700 block of Saxon Street in reference to an unresponsive child. Upon arriving at the address, first responders immediately began lifesaving procedures on the toddler. The child succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital.

Though initially treated as a typical “death investigation,” detectives said they “quickly uncovered signs of foul play.”

“An autopsy revealed the child had suffered severe injuries, including multiple strikes to the head with a closed fist that ultimately caused the child’s death. Based on these findings and additional evidence, TPD’s Violent Crimes Unit took over the case,” the release states. “As the investigation evolved, detectives learned the child was left in the care of Young, the boyfriend of the woman hired to watch the child, the night before the incident occurred.”

According to a probable cause affidavit, an autopsy determined that the victim had suffered “forceful impacts” to both sides of her head and face that caused her brain “to both hemorrhage and swell, eventually causing her death.” The toddler had also suffered an acute fracture to her left femur that doctors said would have “undoubtedly been extremely painful and severely impacted her ability to crawl or move.”

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In a post-Miranda interview with detectives, Young initially denied causing the victim any harm. However, after being presented with details of the injuries “which indicated that another person had physically abused her to the point of death,” police said Young broke down and began crying and said “he was sorry for what had occurred.”

Police said he then admitted to “striking [the victim] upon her head/face,” and agreed to reenact the brutal beating he inflicted on the child.

“Affiant would hold a hand up, palm facing the defendant,” the affidavit states. “When asked to do so, the defendant demonstrated how he had struck [the victim]. During the demonstration, the defendant used a closed fist to forcefully strike your Affiant’s hand. The defendant would go on to describe how he had used both his right and left fists to strike [the victim] two to three times upon both the right and left sides of her head/face.”

Young also said he was suffering from “lack of sleep” and a “feeling of stress” while caring for the victim and her brother before offering a bizarre explanation about the toddler’s fatal injuries.

“The defendant was asked if he had simply lost his temper during a stressful moment,” police wrote. “In response, the defendant claimed that he had not lost his temper and that he had only been ‘playing’ with [the victim] when he struck her. The defendant would advise that he had smoked an amount of cannabis minutes before and said something to the effect of ‘When I smoke, I want to play.'”

Young further stated that he would not strike his own daughter of the same age “in an effort to play with her,” per the affidavit.

Asked how the victim’s femur was fractured, Young allegedly admitted that he had “used a fist to strike her upon the thigh.”

“The defendant stated that after he had struck [the victim], he exited the bedroom, leaving her lying upon the bed next to her brother,” police wrote. “He returned a short time later and listened to her chest to hear a heartbeat. When asked, the defendant advised that he had been afraid that his previous actions might have caused [the victim] harm. Finding [the victim] unresponsive, he rushed her into the living room and prompted a relative to call 911.”

Though admitting to causing the fatal injuries, Young allegedly maintained that he “had not intended to cause [the victim’s] death, claiming he had “not been overly forceful” when punching the toddler’s head and face. He also claimed he was ” unaware that the blows could cause hemorrhaging in her brain.”

Young was booked into Leon County Jail where he is currently being held without bond, records show. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Thursday.