Charges have been upgraded to first-degree murder against a Will County man in the alleged beating death of his 10-week-old daughter.

A Will County grand jury issued a six-count indictment Wednesday against Jonathon Middono, 29, of Crest Hill. He was initially charged with aggravated battery causing injury to a child after his infant daughter, Kora, was airlifted to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, where she died hours later on June 3.

Middono is accused of inflicting blunt-force trauma to the baby’s head, according to the indictment.

He’s being held in Will County Jail on $2 million bail and is due back in court to face the heightened charges Thursday.

Kora, who according to an online obituary was a preemie born in March, was taken to a hospital after 11 p.m. June 2, and Channahon police who investigated her injuries said they were initially told that a medical condition caused the girl’s father to collapse and he fell on top of her. As her condition worsened, Kora was flown to Chicago before dying in her mother’s arms, the obituary said.

“Kora came into this world seven weeks too soon on March 27, 2019, and proved to be a true fighter. She was beautiful baby girl who touched many lives and gave a lifetime of joy during her short time on earth,” the obituary reads in part.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office determined the baby’s death was a homicide by blunt-force trauma and child abuse.

Authorities were alerted after hospital staff found the infant’s injuries suspicious and determined she suffered multiple skull fractures, according to court records.

Prosecutors said during Middono’s June 4 bond court hearing that Middono told investigators he had “sole possession” of the infant when the incident occurred, according to a transcript.

It was apparently at that hearing that the defendant learned his daughter had died.

“No, my baby girl died?” Middono asked when a prosecutor informed the judge of the girl’s death.

The prosecutor indicated that the state’s attorney’s office had only learned of the infant’s death within an hour before the hearing began, according to the transcript.

Channahon police said they began investigating the case because the family first reported they lived there. But authorities said they determined that Kora’s injuries occurred while the family was staying in a motel in Crest Hill.

Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter.