Las Vegas Police Investigate Infant
Death
April 3, 2006
 April
is National Child Abuse Prevention Month Family Resource Center (FRC)
Programs Family to Family Connection (F2F) Programs Nevada DHHS
Initiates Corrective Action Plan to Address Child Fatalities
Las Vegas Metro Police are
investigating the death of a six-month-old child and not ruling out
child abuse as the cause. This is the sixth child death case here in
the valley this year.
No charges have been filed into the
death of the six-month-old girl, whose lifeless body was found
inside the Silver Pines Apartments on Russell and Boulder Highway
Sunday afternoon.
Right now, metro is waiting the
results of an autopsy from the coroner’s office.
Elvanic Sanders, who also lives in
apartment complex, said, "It's frightening. You don't know if it was
from an accident or if she died from natural causes, it's scary"
"The caregiver called and said the
child was not breathing, medical responded and the child was
deceased," said Lieutenant Brad Simpson of Metro's Abuse and Neglect
Unit.
Metro says that there was no
apparent trauma to the child but Lt. Simpson explains why his
department is calling this death a suspicious one.
"The suspicion comes from the child
found lying face down on which is not the best position for an
infant child to be in when sleeping," said Lt. Simpson.
Already this year, the number of
child related deaths, linked to abuse is higher than last year at
this time.
"We've had about five this year
that's up from last year so we're kind of worried about the progress
of our community and how we're dealing with children and infant
deaths," explained Lt. Simpson.
The number of child abuse deaths
across Clark County for this year, breaks down like this, metro has
responded to five, Henderson has had one, and both North Las Vegas
and Boulder City have had none so far. But these numbers are far too
many for people in the valley.
"You can't put a price on
somebody’s life period," said Sanders.
The two other siblings of the child
who were in the home, have been placed in protective custody. Both
will remain there until this investigation is complete.
In addition to the recent child
deaths, a hearing Tuesday morning could determine how much
information about the death of a child can be released.
Clark County and the state of
Nevada are at odds over what records should be released when a child
abuse victim dies. District Court Judge Doug Herndon is expected to
hear arguments on the issue. The county says it can only release a
few facts. The age, how the child died, and where other siblings
were moved to. But the state says that is not enough.
Email Chris Saldaña at csaldaña@klastv.com
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