A man has been charged with murder after he was accused of fracturing the skull of a 17-month-old girl and told authorities she had choked to death on a hot dog.

Gary Foley Jr. faces a charge of homicide after a toddler died in a mobile home filled with “rubbish and bugs”, according to prosecutor John Morganelli, district attorney for Northampton County in Pennsylvania.

Mr Foley, 32, called 911 last month and told emergency dispatchers: “Something is wrong with my baby”. He said that he had been feeding the little girl a bit of hot dog and put her on the floor to change her nappy when she started choking.

An autopsy discovered the skull fracture, and Mr Foley was the only adult in the trailer at the time. It is not yet clear how the child attained a fracture.

The prosecutor acknowledged that authorities are trying to develop more evidence in a case that is circumstantial, he said.

The child’s mother, 27-year-old Heather Surget, also faces charges of child endangerment. They lived with three other children in a mobile home that had rubbish and insects everywhere, holes in the floor, no running water or permanent heating.

Ms Surget told police that she met Mr Foley online and he moved in with them a week before the child died.

Mr Morganelli said: “Yet another example of individuals who have absolutely no responsibility or ability to take care of numerous children, endangering their welfare, and in this case, also the life of one of the children.”

There were reportedly indications that at least one of the other children in the trailer had been abused, according to authorities. The other children, a four-year-old son, a three-year-old and two-month old, were placed in custody with welfare authorities.

Mr Foley is being held without bail and Ms Surget is being detained with $100,000 bail.