FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): A Fort Wayne man has pleaded guilty to neglect in the case of a badly-injured two-year-old girl.

20-year-old Zachary Copeland pleaded guilty in Allen Superior Court Tuesday to a single count of felony neglect in a plea deal could see him avoid prison time.

The Journal Gazette reports he could be sentenced to serve four years of a six-year sentence, with two years suspended, but he could also serve his time in a work-release program instead. He had been charged with neglect and battery after his girlfriend’s daughter was taken to the hospital with a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain.

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Doctors say the injuries were intentionally inflicted. He says she fell off a bed and onto a pile of toys.

The battery charge will be dismissed. The girl’s mother, Mercedes Tyree, was also charged in the case.