A former Lancaster city couple face trial on charges they caused the death of an infant girl in 2009.

Jose Ricardo Colon and Holly Snow Steffy, both 23, appeared at a city magistrate's office Thursday to waive their preliminary hearings.

Shackled and handcuffed, the former couple signed paperwork and were taken back to Lancaster County Prison. They are jailed on $1 million bail apiece.

A trial is expected sometime next year.

Prosecutors have made no plea offers in the case.

Both defendants are charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the death of 4-month-old Sanayah Colon.

Sanayah suffered multiple injuries — including numerous broken bones — at the hands of the couple, police allege. She died Oct. 24, 2009.

Charges were lodged after a grand jury hearing this summer.

Investigators didn't file homicide charges, saying it wasn't clear who caused the child's death, a prosecutor said.

But medical experts, in charging documents, were adamant that the baby was injured while under the couple's care.

Sanayah was Steffy's daughter; Colon helped in caring for the child.

Doctors found multiple injuries during an autopsy, including 31 rib fractures, a broken collarbone, two broken arm bones, a fractured vertebrae and a scarred liver.

The injuries were caused by direct blows or squeezing, the charging documents say.

Sanayah stopped eating because she was in so much pain, a doctor told investigators. At the time of death, the girl was so thin that she looked like a starvation victim, the documents say.

A person who lived with the couple told investigators that the baby was never taken to a doctor. The injuries were sustained throughout the baby's 4-month life, investigators said.

Colon and Steffy had a child together after Sanayah's death. Colon has two other children with another woman, according to investigators.

bhambright@lnpnews.com