HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) – Police are investigating the death of a two-month-old boy in Henrico County.
Previously, Henrico Police spokesman Lt. Eric Owens said the incident was being investigated as a “suspicious death.”
Owens said police were called to the Oakmeade Apartment Complex, in the 200 block of Airport Place, a little after midnight Feb. 9, to help with an “unresponsive” child.
Stephen Murman, with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told CBS 6 the official cause and manner of death has not been determined.
The recently obtained search warrant reveals more details of the death.
The documents say that the mother was fixing a pizza in the kitchen when she hear her 1-year-old child crying. When the mother went into the next room she found the 2-month-old baby with a bag over his head.
The mother told police that the infant was unresponsive and bloody fluid on its face. She then ran next door and called 911, state the documents.
A source inside the Medical Examiner’s Office told reporter Angela Pellerano that the two-month baby boy died of asphyxiation. The manner of death is pending investigation.
The child was pronounced dead at VCU Medical Center around 1:00 a.m. that Thursday, and according to court documents, a search warrant was issued about two hours later.
The search warrant states that officials were searching for blood and or bodily fluids, bloody clothing, bags, children’s walker or bouncing chair, children’s furniture and linens.
Jessica Patron, a neighbor, tells CBS 6 the boy’s mother came to her sometime after midnight, asking her to dial 911.
“I guess the baby was just sick,” said Patron. “We called 911 the ambulance came and they took the baby.”
Patron said the boy’s mother has two other kids and calls her a good mom.
“I just didn’t believe it. I just went over there two days ago, and I changed his diaper, fed the little boy, and gave him a bottle. It’s just crazy,” said Patron, when asked how she was handling the news of the boy’s passing.
Others who live in the Oak Meade apartments are also stunned and saddened by the death — and a mother’s agony over losing a child.
“She was getting in the car and I gave her a hug,” said Erma Ferguson, who said she experienced a similar tragedy. “I don’t even know her but I know what she’s going through.”
Ferguson said she lost her son eight years ago in a car accident and would not wish that pain on any parent.
Retired police officer and crime expert Steve Neal, from leatherman and Neal LLC said the warrant and affadavit suggest that police aren’t buying mom’s story.
“Obviously they are looking at who placed the bag over the babies head and how it was there, but there’s also the question of how long the child was left unattended and any other evidence they may have pulled from the scene,” said Neal.
“In this case it definitely looks like a second degree murder charge,” said Neal.
