GERING, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury will investigate the 2008 death of a 2-year-old Gering girl.

A Scotts Bluff County judge says Wednesday that a grand jury will be convened in the death of Juliette Geurts. An autopsy showed she died of blunt-force trauma to the head and abdomen.

District Judge Randy Lippstreu’s decision follows a petition with more than 1,700 signatures. Nebraska is among six states that allow grand juries to convene by petition.

The petition was started earlier this year by relatives and others who were dissatisfied with the efforts to find out whether the toddler was a homicide victim and who might have killed her.

No date is set for the grand jury to convene.