BATON ROUGE – Police confirmed Thursday that Robert Marks, suspected in the murder of Lyntell Washington, was the father of her unborn child.

Marks is accused of shooting Washington and dumping her body at the edge of a sugarcane field in Iberville Parish. He is also accused of leaving Washington’s three-year-old daughter alone in a parking lot near her mother’s blood-spattered car.

Police have suggested in arrest documents that Marks killed Washington to prevent his wife from discovering his affair and the impending birth.

Marks' attorney said Marks' wife was notified Thursday of the results of the DNA analysis performed by the State Police Crime Lab. His wife, Kala Marks, has expressed support for him. The couple has two children.

Robert Marks was first arrested on counts of kidnapping and child desertion after Washington's daughter was found wandering near the car. She told investigators that "Mr. Robbie" had hurt her mother and that her mother was "in the lake."

After more than a day of searching waterways near the area where cell phone records showed her phone had been, farmers found Washington's body at the edge of a field just outside Rosedale. After dental records confirmed her identity, Marks was accused of first-degree murder and feticide in the crime along with the initial charges.