In a disturbing incident in Texas, a man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend’s 1-year-old daughter, inflicting life-threatening injuries while the child’s mother was away at a medical appointment for pregnancy-related issues.

Howard Dewayne Walker Jr., aged 28, has been charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child, according to a statement by the Beaumont Police Department. Officers responded to a local hospital around 1 p.m. on Tuesday after the young girl arrived in a critical state, displaying clear signs of abuse. She was then transferred by helicopter to a medical facility in Houston for urgent care.

An arrest affidavit, shared by CBS affiliate KFDM, revealed that the child was found to be “intubated and unresponsive, with severe facial swelling, bruises on the chest and abdomen, dried blood around the left ear, and numerous small circular burn-like marks and healing cuts on her inner thighs and left arm.”

The investigation uncovered that the girl’s mother had left her and another child in Walker’s care shortly before 10 a.m. while she attended a doctor’s appointment. Walker later sent a text to his girlfriend about the situation, prompting her to send family members to the house to assess the situation.

What they discovered was a scene of unimaginable horror.

“Witnesses said she was largely unresponsive and gasping, with a swollen eye and dark marks on her body,” the affidavit stated. “They reported seeing Walker applying a frozen orange juice can to the infant’s face and described patterned bruising to the face, chest, and abdomen.”

When cops arrived, they noted the home smelled “strongly of bleach” and saw a mop and wet floors in an apparent attempt to clean up blood. Officers initially detained Walker on municipal warrants. Post-Miranda, he claimed he was not at home when the girl suffered the injuries, first blaming a babysitter and then his girlfriend.

Walker then admitted to being the lone adult with the girl when she suffered her injuries, cops wrote. He allegedly blamed the victim’s swelling on an “allergic reaction.” Walker offered no “plausible” explanations for the girl’s injuries.

Doctors later told detectives she had facial fractures, a liver laceration and active internal bleeding.

“The clinician advised the injuries were consistent with inflicted trauma requiring significant force, not accidental mechanisms or allergic reaction,” detectives wrote.

The girl was last listed in critical condition.

Walker is in the Jefferson County Correctional Facility on a $1 million bond.