A young father from the USA has been charged with murder after his infant daughter was found dead in a river.

Jayveon Louis Burley, aged 22, was charged with killing his baby daughter named Leilani Dream Burley, aged 1, after authorities found her remains in the Los Angeles River, in California, USA.

Burley, who was taken into custody on Tuesday, 6th December, was also charged with assault on a child causing death in the disturbing case.

Leilani was reported missing by her paternal grandmother who alerted the police at around 10.45pm, saying that the little one was nowhere to be found.

She claimed that her son went to the city of Long Beach to pick up his two children, who at that time were staying with their mother, identified as Lynisha Hull.

He was then supposed to bring them back to the residence they both shared in the 300 block of N. Market Street, in the city of Inglewood, but he instead only came home with one child.

Following the call, cops responded to the residence where they made contact with the little girl’s grandmother and began searching for her.

They soon found her remains in a shallow-water area below the Ocean Boulevard Bridge and retrieved her body on Monday, 5th December.

Her brother, Zayveyon Burley, aged 3, was reportedly unharmed but kept asking where his sister was.

After she received the distressing news, the children’s mother later claimed that Burley appeared upset when he picked up their children.

However, she said she did not find his behaviour concerning at the time as he had never hurt them before and was always protective of them.

She said: “He came to my home to pick up my kids.

“He was angry at the time but normal though. He was normal. He didn’t look like he was panicked or anything at all.”

Hull then explained that the father failed to put Leilani in her car seat and then strapped her into it after which he drove off “erratically”.

She reportedly claimed that Burley was the one to toss her daughter off the bridge and said: “My daughter was murdered by her father. He threw her off the bridge.”

She reportedly based these claims on the fact that Burley would not tell her where their daughter was before cops found her in the river.

Hull said: “He kept on saying, ‘Don’t worry about it, she’s fine’.

“I don’t understand. Why would he do this to my daughter? I don’t understand. How can a father do this to their own child?”

The distraught mother then said: “I keep on asking, what was my daughter’s reaction? Was she crying? Was she screaming?”

Burley had previously been arrested after he reportedly robbed a Domino’s Pizza delivery courier at gunpoint in 2018.

The police said at the time: “Burley was found in possession of the weapon used in the commission of the crime, a black mask and other evidence pertinent to the crime.”

The 22-year-old man is currently being held in custody on a USD 215,000 (GBP 176,000) bond.