A mother and her boyfriend who had claimed that their 4-year-old girl slipped on ice and fell was arrested Tuesday afternoon on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder.

The girl was rushed to Memorial Hospital early Tuesday after police arrived at her home at 1:52 a.m. and found her not breathing. She remains in critical condition.

The girl's mother, 23-year-old Chrystie Marie Hardy, and her mother's boyfriend, Mark Alton Friend, 25, claimed that on Monday, the girl had slipped on ice and hit her head.

But deputies said an investigation revealed that the child's mother and the mother's boyfriend may have repeatedly struck the child since October 2007.

The toddler has bruising in several places on her body including her forehead, arms, and knees, authorities said. She also had a serious head injury (subdura hematoma) that was less than 72 hours old, and most likely only a few hours old.

Hardy and Friend were arrested at their home at Rebecca Lane and North Academy Boulevard and booked into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.