Joshua Andrew Stepp, who has been charged with the first degree murder and sexual assault of his 10-month-old stepdaughter told a 911 dispatcher that the child was choking on toilet paper, the N.C. Medical Examiner's Office reported this afternoon.
The child was unresponsive when police found her Sunday night at a third floor apartment at 1223 Silver Sage Drive in West Raleigh, authorities reported.
Stepp, 26, of 1223 Silver Sage Drive, Apt. 306, was charged Monday with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual offense, court records show.
Neighbors at The Villas apartment complex said they had never seen Stepp at the apartment, but often saw the child strapped in a car seat with her mother. Neighbors who live just below Stepp's third floor apartment said today that they heard noise punctuated by a child's cries and what sounded like a squeaking sound across the floor, as if someone was cleaning the carpet.
Police found Cheyanet shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday at Stepp's apartment and transported her to the WakeMed Raleigh Campus, where she was later pronounced dead.
Stepp appeared before Judge Craig Croom this afternoon and asked for a court-appointed attorney.
In the brief court appearance, the judge read the charges and set no bail.
The next court date is scheduled for Dec. 2.
