INDIANAPOLIS -- Police said they arrested a man Tuesday night in connection with this week's beating death of a child whom his girlfriend was baby-sitting.

Lazaro Xique Cuatle, 31, of Indianapolis, (pictured) was being held on a preliminary charge of murder in the death of Vanesa Cervantes, 2, police said.

Cervantes died at St. Vincent Hospital on Monday night a few hours after being taken there with head injuries. An autopsy Tuesday determined that she died of blunt force trauma to the head, and her death was ruled a homicide, police said.

Police said a woman was baby-sitting the child Monday at a north-side Indianapolis apartment. The woman initially told police that the girl had accidentally hit her head on a bed frame, according to police.

However, during a second interview, the woman said she saw her boyfriend, Xique Cuatle, beating the girl in the head with his fist, authorities said.

The woman said she was preparing dinner when she heard the child cry from a bedroom, and she saw Xique Cuatle beating the girl when she looked into the room, according to police.

Xique Cuatle declined to be interviewed by the detective, police said.