GRAND JUNCTION — A new witness was enough Wednesday to force the delay of a plea hearing for a man accused in the beating death of 3-year-old girl.

Charles McEachern, 33, formerly of Grand Junction, was scheduled to enter a plea Wednesday in District Judge Brian Flynn’s courtroom.

McEachern is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of 3-year-old Miranda Baca in June 2006.

Attorneys on both sides of the case on Wednesday asked for more time to look into statements from a new witness in the case.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Tammy Eret said the witness was interviewed and gave a statement last week to an investigator with the DA’s office.

Eret and McEachern’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender William McNulty, declined to identify the witness or talk about that person’s new statement.

A new plea date was set for June 25.

McEachern was arrested on the Front Range, Christmas Eve 2007, on a Grand Junction police warrant following more than a year of investigation focused on Baca’s death.

Baca was the daughter of McEachern’s former girlfriend.

An autopsy showed the girl died from retinal and cerebral hemorrhaging, caused by blunt force injuries to her head, according to an arrest affidavit. She also had two bruises on her back, possibly caused by someone grabbing her.

The girl’s mother told police she worked a night shift four days a week at a local nursing home and McEachern watched the girl while she worked.

Reach Paul Shockley at pshockley@gjfreepress.com.