Latest reports from St Petersburg, Florida suggest that a five-year-old girl Phoebe was found dead after being thrown from a bridge into Tampa Bay by her father, on early Thursday morning.

Though rescuers tried to take her to the nearby hospital, she was pronounced dead.

According to St Petersburg police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez, an off-duty police officer saw the 25-year-old John Jonchuck Jr throwing the girl from the top of the Dick Misener Bridge. The girl fell nearly 62 feet to her death.

The culprit, who reportedly has a criminal background, was soon arrested by officials from Manatee County, and was taken to the Pinellas County Jail.

He has been charged with first degree murder and escaping.

"It's unfathomable, I mean, officers see all kinds of things but it's still very difficult to see something like this unfold before your eyes what could make someone throw someone over a railing, let alone your own child? How could you possibly understand that?" Fernandez said, according to Inquisitr.

Details awaited. 

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