Prosecutors said Ludi was the only one watching his 5-month-old daughter on July 3, 2016. The father told police that Cassidy fell asleep at his apartment in Bellevue and that he put her on his bed and went outside to smoke.

When he returned, Cassidy was facedown on the floor and making a strange cry, according to court testimony. Ludi called 911 after calling his mother. The baby later died at a hospital.

Sarpy County Deputy Attorney Nicole Hutter told the judge that something happened to Cassidy. And while prosecutors don’t know the mechanism of injury, Ludi was the only one watching the infant in the hours leading up to her death.

Christopher Lathrop, Ludi’s attorney, said his client cooperated with police all along and provided them with three consistent statements about what happened to his daughter. Lathrop asked for probation for his client or a shorter prison sentence.

A forensic pathologist testified during a preliminary hearing that she considered the injuries to be inconsistent with a fall from a bed onto a rug.

Lathrop called the medical reports “erroneous” and “inaccurate.”