VALDOSTA — A Valdosta man has been charged with murdering his 8-month-old daughter, police said.

At 10:13 p.m., May 13, police headed to a home in the 1700 block of Williams Street after Peyton Gaines, 22, of Valdosta, called E911 to report his daughter was not responsive, according to a Valdosta Police Department statement.

Officers and EMTs found the baby had a pulse but she was taken to the hospital for further treatment. The baby was later transported to a hospital in Florida, police said.

Two days later, the Lowndes County Department of Family and Children Services contacted detectives to advise the baby was brain dead and there were injuries consistent with non-accidental trauma. On May 16, the baby was pronounced dead by medical staff and was taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy was performed May 23, police said.

The medical examiner found internal abusive head trauma consistent with the baby being shaken violently, the statement said.

On Tuesday, May 24, detectives obtained arrest warrants for Gaines on charges of felony murder in the second degree and felony cruelty to children in the second degree; after the warrants were obtained, Gaines was taken into custody at police headquarters, police said.

Detectives worked closely with Lowndes County and Florida Division of Family and Children Services, the Southern District Attorney’s Office, the medical examiner’s office and the child-protection team from Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital.

“This was great teamwork by several organizations that worked together to ensure that this tragic incident was properly investigated and the offender will be held accountable. To think that someone could injure their child in this manner is heartbreaking,” Police Chief Leslie Manahan said in a statement.