PAYETTE, Idaho (AP) — Charges have been filed against a 24-year-old Payette man in the strangling death of his ex-girlfriend.

Payette Police Chief Mark Clark says Cody Hays faces a second-degree murder charge in the death of Amber Schwenn. Payette County Coroner Keith Schuller says Schwenn was strangled to death. Schwenn's mother called police on Friday morning when her daughter didn't show up for work.

The mother told police Schwenn was supposed to drop her toddler off with Hays, who is the child's father. Hays was spotted driving Schwenn's car. A police report says he told officers they could find Schwenn's body at his apartment and that he had killed her.

Hays was jailed in Payette County. He has not made a court appearance. The toddler is safe.

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