An 18-month-old child died from serious head injuries she sustained earlier this week at a private daycare in Medicine Hat, Alta., police said Wednesday.

The little girl died at the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary on Wednesday morning.

A 23-year-old woman, who operates the home daycare, has been charged with aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life.

Police told CTV Calgary that those charges might be upgraded to murder pending the results of an autopsy. The autopsy is scheduled for later Wednesday morning.

The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was initially released from custody with an order to reappear in court on September 7. Police say they will reveal the suspect's identity once formal charges are laid sometime early next week.

In the meantime, the daycare has been shut down for business.

The child was rushed to a regional hospital in Medicine Hat by ambulance on Monday with life-threatening head injuries, according to a news release put out by the Medicine Hat Police Service.

Officials with the hospital called the police with suspicions that the child may have been assaulted. The girl was promptly airlifted to Alberta Children's Hospital in critical condition.

"We are indeed deeply saddened at the recent turn of events and offer our condolences to the family," Staff Sgt. Brent Secondiak said Wednesday.

Secondiak later said in a televised interview with CTV Calgary that the police investigation will "take quite some time" as detectives still need to collect health and hospital records, execute search warrants and take statements from witnesses.