The Feltonville father accused in the child abuse-related murder of his 10-year-old daughter died in prison of an apparent suicide last weekend.

Officers assigned to the intake unit of Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, at 7901 State Road, found Domingo Ferreira, 53, dead in his cell at about 3:10 a.m. on Sunday, according to a printed statement from the Philadelphia Prison System.

Ferreira was lying on a lower bunk "with torn (bed) sheeting tied to the upper bunk," the news release stated, implying that the inmate had strangled himself. He was alone in the cell and had been separated from the general inmate population for his own protection due to the high-profile nature of his criminal case.

Officers administered CPR to Ferreira and the prison's medical staff responded to the cell, but the inmate could not be resuscitated, the prison system reported.

Ferreira had been admitted to CFCF on Friday night one day after his arrest for the murder of his daughter, Charleeni Ferreira. Following his arrival at CFCF, he underwent a mental health evaluation and was "not judged to be suicidal," the prison system stated.

The girl's stepmother, Margarita Garabito, 43, was also arrested on Thursday and charged with murder.

Paramedics found the 10-year-old victim unconscious in her parents' C Street home on Wednesday morning. The parents reportedly had called for help and claimed that the girl had accidentally struck her head the night before. The girl died at an area hospital a short time later.

A medical examination revealed that Charleeni died from a lung infection likely caused by broken ribs, authorities said. The girl had numerous other wounds, old and new, indicating she had been victimized by a long-term pattern of physical abuse.

The medical investigator also found injuries consistent with sexual abuse, authorities said. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the suspected sexual abuse.

Garabito, the stepmother, remains in custody at the Riverside Correctional Facility, 8151 State Road, and has been notified of her husband's death. She remains under observation by prison staff.

The elder Ferreira's death is being investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department's homicide unit, the Medical Examiner's Office and the special investigations unit of the Philadelphia Prison System.