A 23-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly punching his 1-month-old daughter in a fatal assault in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kagoshima last year, police said.

Natsuki Nakashima admitted to the charge, with the police quoting him as saying, "I hit her because she would not stop crying. I was suffering from stress."

According to the police, Nakashima is suspected of punching his daughter Kokona in the head in his apartment in the town of Kimotsuki during the night of Feb. 26, 2020, resulting in cerebral bleeding. The girl was taken to a hospital but pronounced dead the following day.

The police said they will investigate whether the man had been committing child abuse on a regular basis.

After the incident, Nakashima called for an ambulance and reported that his daughter was not breathing. Hospital staff handling the case notified police of the possibility of child abuse.

The man lived with his wife and four children including Kokona. At the time of the incident, his wife and two of the children were out, the police said.