First degree murder charges have been filed against a mid-Missouri man accused of killing an infant in May.

35-year-old Matthew Hamm of Fortuna is charged with killing an infant (photo courtesy of the Moniteau County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page}

Moniteau County Prosecutor Shayne Healea has charged 35-year-old Matthew Hamm of Fortuna with first degree murder and abandonment of a corpse.

Prosecutor Healea tells Missourinet Hamm’s bond is set at $1 million cash only. Hamm will be arraigned at the Moniteau County Courthouse in California on June 20.

The infant was about 19 months old. Fortuna is a small town near the Moniteau-Morgan County line. It is about 12 miles west of California, Missouri.

Moniteau County Sheriff Tony Wheatley says his department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control are investigating.

Sheriff Wheatley says a concerned family member notified deputies Wednesday night that Hamm may have killed an infant child.

Deputies responded to a home in Fortuna and made contact with Hamm. The preliminary investigation indicated a dead infant was inside the home. Hamm was arrested without incident that evening and Sheriff Wheatley says a search warrant was obtained and executed at the home. Wheatley says investigators found human remains of an infant child during that search.

Wheatley says an autopsy was conducted Friday at University Hospital in Columbia. He says the possible cause of death is not being released because of the ongoing investigation.

The sheriff encourages anyone with information to call the Moniteau County Sheriff’s Department at (573) 796-2525.