Christchurch Police have charged a 34-year old Christchurch man with the murder of 13-year old Jade Bayliss at her home last Thursday.
The man, who has been in custody since Thursday night, has also been charged with arson and burglary.
He will appear in the Christchurch District Court at Rangiora tomorrow, Tuesday 15 November.
A second Christchurch man, aged 40, will also appear in court tomorrow charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Both men have been in custody since Thursday night after being arrested on charges of criminal harassment, relating to a separate, earlier incident involving the mother of the deceased girl.
Detective Inspector Greg Williams says today's charges come after four days of detailed and wide-ranging investigation by a large Police team.
"There have been a number of threads to the enquiry so far, and we have been highly focused on identifying what happened at the Somerfield property last Thursday.
"There is still a considerable amount of investigative work to be done. We are still interested in the movements of the two men and of the green Mitsubishi Diamante on the day of the murder.
"In particular we are focusing on two time frames during which we believe the offender has been at the Barrington Street address, first between 10.00 and 10.30am, and then between 1.00 and 1.20pm.
"We have recovered a significant quantity of property taken from the deceased's house on the day of the murder, from several locations including second-hand dealers, a location at McLean's Island as well as the 34-year old man's house."
Detective Inspector Williams says Jade's family had been advised of today's developments and had expressed their relief at the progress of the enquiry.
ENDS