Twenty-two-year-old Akel Ackie of Passaic was arrested in March. He faces counts of murder, felony murder, aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
The murder count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. The sexual assault count carries a maximum 20-year sentence.
Prosecutors say Ackie physically and sexually abused the 21-month-old girl while caring for the child at her mother's house in Passaic on March 20.
The girl died three days later.
Ackie is being held in the Passaic County Jail on $1.5 million bail.
