HOMEDALE, Idaho (AP) — A southwestern Idaho woman told investigators that she burned the body of her 2-year-old daughter after the child died of a head injury because she was scared about losing custody of her other children, police said.

    Veronica T. Herrera, of Homedale, was charged Monday with felony destruction of evidence. Police are still investigating the death of her daughter, Nakita.

    Prosecutors said in court records that Herrera told police her daughter jumped off of her potty chair last Wednesday and hit her head on a heater. Herrera told police that she then put the toddler in a playpen and asked her 9-year-old child to watch the little girl while Herrera took some other children to her sister’s house in Caldwell, according to the documents.

    When she came home later that night, she noticed a large bump on Nakita’s head and realized the child wasn’t breathing, she told investigators.

    Prosecutors said Herrera told police that she put the toddler’s body in the back of her van that night, and that the next morning she walked to the store to buy lighter fluid, put the body in the barrel and set it on fire. She told police that she had her other children put garbage in the barrel to keep the fire burning, but the remains were still recognizable Friday morning so she bought more lighter fluid, according to the court records.

    Herrera made the statements to police after she told her parents about the death and they drove her to the police station.

    Herrera is being held in the Owyhee County Jail, and her bail has been set at $500,000. Owyhee County Prosecutor Doug Emery said more charges are possible as the investigation progresses. The case is being investigated by Homedale and state police.