The Calgary Police Homicide Unit has announced second-degree murder charges against the father and stepmother of a murdered child.

Six year-old Meika Dawn Jordan died in hospital November 14th, 2011, the day after being injured in her father’s northeast Calgary home, in Temple.    

Police were told she had fallen down some stairs.

However, an autopsy found otherwise.   The little girl died as the result of multiple blunt force trauma.  This past week, authorities announced Meika had suffered severe third-degree burns to one of her hands and that she had been struck in the head and abdomen.

Her father, 26 year-old Spencer Lee Jordan, and her stepmother, 22 year-old Marie Eve Magoon were arrested Sunday night.

Both are now charged with one count of second-degree murder.

They will appear in court Tuesday.

Duty Inspector Paul Stacey tells 660News, investigations such as this take time.

“This investigation has been nearly a year long and our homicide investigators really poured their hearts into this,” says Stacey.  “There’s something about when a young innocent child is harmed or murdered that really tugs on the heart strings of our investigators.  A lot of them are family men and women and know that there was such an innocent and vulnerable victim in this case.  Our investigators really took it personally.”

“With those types of files, we don’t cut corners because we owe it to the victim to do the best job we possibly can,” concludes Stacey.  “With the technical laws that are in place, and everything that needs to be done, you have to take the time to make sure the investigation is done right.”