The 2-year-old, named Nina, died a few days later in Virginia.

Peggy Sue Hilt, 33, of 9212 Dansforeshire Way, was arrested Wednesday by the Prince William County, Va., Police Department and charged with murder, according to Virginia jail officials and accounts published Friday by The Washington Post.

Hilt adopted Nina from Russia. The family had been in Virginia visiting relatives last weekend when Nina was rushed to the hospital July 2, according to a search warrant taken out by a Wake Forest police detective to seize items from the home owned by Hilt and her husband, Christopher.

Christopher Hilt has not been charged in Nina's death.

At the Virginia hospital, doctors determined that the toddler's injuries were consistent with severe physical abuse and possible sexual abuse, according to the search warrant.

Numerous bruises -- including those on her chin, rib cage and between her eyebrows -- were found on Nina, the Post reported, citing a criminal complaint taken out by police.

Prince William County officials did not respond to requests for information Friday afternoon.

Peggy Sue Hilt initially told investigators her daughter fell July 1 while at their Wake Forest home, the search warrant states.

Nina vomited twice on the way to Virginia, according to the warrant.

Hilt told police later that sudden rage led her to shake Nina, drop her on the floor, then put her in a bed and strike her several times with a closed fist, according to the Post.

Wake County property records show the Hilts lived in the Dansforth subdivision for less than a year, paying $368,500 for the home in September.

Neighbor Susan Jordan met Hilt within the past two weeks, when she went to get her mail and saw the woman walking with her two daughters.

Jordan recalls the conversation as brief, commenting on how she had seen the children playing on a swing set. Jordan said she was struck by how uncomfortable Hilt was to talk with a neighbor.

"'We'll talk another time,'" Jordan said she told Hilt at the end of the conversation.

In a search of the Dansforeshire Way home Thursday, Wake Forest police seized photographs, pieces of carpet, bedding and computer data. The investigation is continuing.

(News researcher Lamara Williams-Hackett contributed to this report.)