HILO, Hawai'i — A 30-year-old Hilo man was charged yesterday with murder in connection with the death of his 5-year-old stepdaughter on Sunday.

Anthony S. Poulin of Wainaku was charged with second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of abuse of a family or household member.

His bail was set at $1 million and he is scheduled to make his initial court appearance this afternoon in South Hilo District Court.

Poulin is accused of killing Javieanna Win Sunday afternoon. The girl was found unresponsive in a filled bathtub in the family's apartment on Pu'ueo Street, police said.

The girl was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Police said that less than an hour before the reported drowning, a concerned citizen called police and reported seeing a man grab a little girl by the hair and slam her against a concrete wall at the corner of Shipman Street and Kamehameha Avenue.

An autopsy performed yesterday morning determined that the girl died of "asphyxiation due to forceful submersion," police said. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Police ask that anyone with information on the case call Capt. Randall Medeiros at 961-2251 or CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.