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Last updated on Wednesday, April 26, 2017
(INDIANAPOLIS) - The trial is underway for a man accused of killing his newborn daughter in 2015.
The case prompted a large search across the Indianapolis area for 3-month-old Janna Rivera. Her father, Jeff Fairbanks, was eventually charged with murder in the high-profile case.
Court documents show that Fairbanks sometimes covered Janna's face with a pillow to stop her from crying. On one of those instances--May 28, 2015--the baby died in his bed. Fairbanks told police he changed the child and she was crying. He then covered her face with the pillow.
The case set off a massive search across the Indianapolis area for the missing baby. Police said Fairbanks gave conflicting and confusing stores about what happened during early interviews.
He said he put her body in a dumpster after the three-month-old died from natural causes. He told the girl's mother that Janna died and he put a cross in the ground where she was buried. He later told her that he'd made the story up to make her feel better.
Fairbanks led police to a dumpster at an apartment complex, and investigators searched multiple landfills in the area in hopes of finding Janna's remains, which were never found. Investigators did find a blanket matching as one that belonged to Janna.
In August 2015, Fairbanks was arrested and charged with murder and neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
Prosecutors will have the challenge of prosecuting the case without a body, which will make it difficult to prove Janna was murdered.
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