Father Accused of Murder in Baby’s Death : Courts: His trial on earlier charges of molesting the 8-month-old girl is postponed after the grand jury returns a superseding indictment. He pleads not guilty.

A father jailed on charges of molesting his 8-month-old daughter before her death last year was also charged with murder in a grand jury indictment.

Jorge Perez, 35, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. His trial on four molestation charges had been scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed when the indictment was returned.

The superseding indictment unsealed Thursday alleges one count of murder and two counts of child molestation, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Ted Burnett, who declined to say how the baby died.

Kenya Perez died on Nov. 18, 1994. A coroner’s examination led to the molestation charges.

Perez, a print shop employee who worked nights, said in earlier interviews that he took an afternoon nap with Kenya beside him and awoke to find her upside down in a clothes hamper near the bed. He speculated she had fallen in and suffocated.

Relatives described Perez as a caring father, but police said his stories were inconsistent.

In an interview from jail shortly after his daughter’s death, Perez denied harming the infant.

“I have nothing to lie about,” he said. “Who feels more pain about my dear baby’s death: me or the police? I’m already suffering because she died, and now they accuse me of killing her.”

He and his wife Clarissa, 32, also have a 9-year-old girl.