Washington police are investigating how a female toddler was fatally injured when furniture fell on her. They are looking into charges of homicide and mistreating a child to convict the erring parents for what they did.
A 14-month-old-toddler girl died when a dresser fell on her. By the time authorities arrived, the child was cold and lifeless, noted the Spokesman-Review.
Based on the incident, the unidentified mother, 20-years-old called 911 to report what happened in their South Hill apartment on July 3rd. The first to arrive at the scene was a firefighter at the residence who checked for signs of life. However, it was too late and the toddler had passed away, reported Crime Online.
The mother was questioned by the police about how the heavy furniture fell on the child and killed her. Authorities checked the home and found a mattress in the master's bedroom lying on the floor, and another propped against a closet. They noticed that the mattress on the closet was nearby the dresser with drawers open while the toddler was fatally injured.
One news outlet KHQ said that the deceased baby girl had the back of her head lacerated deeply. Also, the coroner had noted many bruises with various degrees of healing.
The Details
When interrogated by the police, the mother said that she left at 5 p.m. for work, but added that their 25-year-old dad was with the female toddler and a 3-year-old sibling when she left. She arrived at 2:30 a.m. the next day and went to bed without checking the kids.
Later she claimed waking up at 1 p.m. but she never bothered to check until 3 p.m. She got the kids from their room and gave them peanuts. This sequence of events was a point of interest.
After giving the kids peanuts and returning them to their room, the dad said the dresser fell on the toddler.
A call was made to summon 911 a bit after 4 p.m., but the father claimed that he was not supervising the children before the emergency call. He added that the toddler was on the mattress when the dresser dropped on the child.
Police were suspicious when they saw the 3-year-old wearing only a diaper looking unwashed. The room was like a pigsty and the apartment was filthy as well.
Despite the claims of the parents about the child's time of death, the coroner said the 14-month-old-toddler was lifeless for more than one hour already. Apart from that, she lied that the kids were fed after she called 911.
The mother's claims of how the toddler died are not holding up, as the coroner says that cause of death is pending.
Police are having doubts about the parents and asked for a warrant to see items of interest, but how the deceased child got the cut on her head is unknown. Authorities are looking at it as an indication of child neglect and abuse.
The remaining sibling was taken by the state, but no arrests were made yet.
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