Dead 1-year-old's parents named as people of interest

The mother and father of a 1-year-old who died over the weekend are being treated by police as people of interest in the child's death. "We need to investigate their stories and make sure they're accurate,"

News 12 Staff

Sep 18, 2008, 2:39 AM

Updated 5,874 days ago

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The mother and father of a 1-year-old who died over the weekend are being treated by police as people of interest in the child's death.
"We need to investigate their stories and make sure they're accurate," says Harrison Police Chief David Hall.
Sources say the baby and her mother are both from Yonkers and had gone to Century Country Club in Purchase to visit the mother's boyfriend, who works as a dishwasher there. That is where the girl was allegedly shaken or hit to death, sources say.
The baby, who suffered from sickle cell anemia, was taken to Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Valhalla, where she was pronounced dead on Saturday.
The exclusive country club was blocked off Wednesday by a police car and a mobile forensics unit, while Harrison police continued their investigation.
Sources say an autopsy report named blunt force trauma to the head and shaken baby syndrome as the child's cause of death. Police from Harrison and Yonkers, as well as the Westchester County District Attorney's office, are now trying to determine what lead to the girl's death, and who is to blame.
"Sometimes babies fall, sometimes they fall down steps," says the chief. "We have to make sure this wasn't an accident before an arrest can be made."
At a news conference Wednesday evening, Hall said authorities are not ready to make an arrest yet in the case, but a suspect may be taken into custody as early as Thursday.
Police probe suspicious death of Yonkers toddler