An Allentown man has been charged in the 2013 death of his 2-month-old child.

Matthew Wolfe, 31, who now lives at 1935 W. Columbia St., Allentown, was charged Dec. 22, 2015, with third-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child.

A doctor has opined that the baby was the victim of abusive head trauma from a “violent act” that, because symptoms are immediate, had to have occurred while the child was in Wolfe’s care.

The case was investigated by Whitehall Township police and a Lehigh County child abuse detective.

According to an affidavit of probable cause:

On Nov. 12, 2013, Whitehall Township police received a report that a 2-month-old baby was near death. The department received information that the father of the child had taken the baby to St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem at 2:06 p.m., where the mother, Cristen Sanchez, worked.

Upon arrival at the hospital, the child was flaccid and lethargic.

The baby girl was examined in the emergency room. She had multiple traumatic injuries to her body and was listed in critical condition. The baby immediately was flown to St. Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia.

The injuries later were determined to be hemorrhages, a skull fracture, multiple rib fractures and leg fractures.

The baby was pronounced dead Nov. 18, 2013. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office listed the cause of death as neurotrauma and the manner of death as homicide.

Wolfe was questioned about the events of Nov. 11 and 12, 2013. He stated that, on the evening of Nov. 11, he checked on the baby, and she was crying normally. He said he picked her up and then placed her in a crib for the night in their residence at 1296 Forest Road, Whitehall Township.

He said Sanchez left the home at 10 a.m. the next morning to go to the store, a medical appointment and then to her employment. She left the child in the father’s care.

Wolfe said he woke up about a half hour later, gave the baby medicine and her bottle and burped her. He stated she seemed “normal.”

He stated that he later checked on the child and noticed that she had vomited and looked flaccid. He said he picked up the baby and noticed that she was limp and that she was whimpering and gasping when she was crying. Wolfe said he then took the baby to St. Luke’s Hospital, where the mother is employed as a nurse.

When Sanchez took the baby to a doctor’s appointment Nov. 11, 2013, a pediatrician who examined the baby found no signs of injury. Sanchez stated that she woke up between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Nov. 12 to feed the child. Sanchez said the baby was acting normally and had no signs of injury at that time.

Sanchez said she left the house about five or six hours later to go to a store and a medical appointment and then to work. Sanchez said she left the baby in Wolfe’s care and that the baby was acting normally and in her crib when she left.

The next time Sanchez saw the baby was when Wolfe brought the child to the hospital.

A pediatrician and section chief of child protection at Lehigh Valley Hospital has reviewed all medical documents involved in the investigation. The doctor has concluded that the baby was a victim of abusive head trauma and that she would have shown symptoms immediately from a violent act that occurred Nov. 12, 2013, while in Wolfe’s care.