Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 17-month-old baby who died at her family home in East Port-of-Spain on Thursday night.
According to reports, around 8 pm, detectives were called to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital after relatives of toddler Nyla Sanchez brought her lifeless body to the Accident and Emergency Department for treatment.
Sanchez’s mother told police that an hour earlier she had left Nyla and her four-year-old brother unattended at their home at St Paul Street, East Dry River, as she went to visit their father who lives nearby.
She said when she returned she found her daughter unconscious and frothing at the mouth. The mother was detained at the Besson Street Police Station for several hours before being released pending further investigations.
A post-mortem performed by pathologist Dr Eastlyn McDonald Burris at the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday revealed that the baby died from blunt force trauma to her head. Relatives of the toddler refused to comment when questioned by reporters at the centre.
Homicide detectives only received the pathologist’s report late yesterday and were expected to question the mother further before they classify the child’s death.
Investigations are continuing.