GOLDEN, Colo. -- Prosecutors have charged a 23-year-old man with fatal child abuse after authorities alleged he left his 5-month-old alone for hours at home so he could go drinking.

Joseph Trujillo spent as many as eight hours drinking at local bars last week before returning to his son at their Golden apartment, Jefferson County authorities said. The baby's grandmother called police after waking up to the sounds of Trujillo crying in the apartment they share. The grandmother told deputies that she found Trujillo holding the unresponsive baby.

Authorities have not released details of the baby's death but say Trujillo put the baby in a situation that threatened his life.

Investigators discovered that Trujillo "had left the baby alone in the apartment for between six and seven hours while he went to a local bar and drank," according to a news release last week from the sheriff's office.

Officials have said the infant was not in his crib when he was found.

Trujillo was arrested on Jan. 21, and the criminal charge was filed Thursday.

He is being held on $50,000 and faces up to 48 years in prison if convicted.