The mother of a two-year-old girl killed in southern Alberta broke down in tears after an old friend of hers was charged with first-degree murder in the case.

Cheyenne Dunbar, who is 20, says she has no idea why someone would want to harm her baby, Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette.

RCMP say Derek James Saretzky faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Hailey and her father Terry Blanchette.

Her body was found Tuesday near Blairmore, 220 km south of Calgary, and her father’s body was discovered in a home in Blairmore on Monday.

Dunbar says Saretzky was an old friend of hers, but they never dated, and she and police are baffled by the killings.

Hailey was the subject of an Amber Alert earlier in the week that stretched across Western Canada and into the United States.

RCMP Supt. Tony Hamori says Saretzky, who is 22, is also charged with one count of committing an indignity to a human body.

The tragedy began to unfold early Monday morning when Blanchette, 27, was killed in his home and his daughter was taken away in a speeding white van.

Saretzky, who is from Blairmore, is to appear in Lethbridge court on Sept. 23.