Police investigate death of infant

By Meghan Erkkinen

Fife Free Press
merkkinen@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: August 14, 2008

A two-month-old infant was declared dead Aug. 11 after police responded to a call that the boy was unresponsive at a house in Fife.

The boy’s father called 911 shortly after 8 a.m. After police and medical aid arrived, several attempts to revive the boy were unsuccessful. The boy’s father told police that at around 4 a.m., he removed the coughing baby from his crib, and laid the boy next to him on his bed. When he woke up at 8 a.m., the baby wasn’t breathing.

The medical examiner’s office took the boy’s body in for an autopsy. An autopsy was performed Aug. 12, but no cause of death has yet been released.

While at the home, officers saw large quantities of marijuana within plain sight. Later that day, officers applied for and executed a search warrant.

“It was obviously more than personal use amounts,” said Officer Tim Floyd of the Fife Police Department.

The department is looking to see whether there’s a link between the drugs and the child’s death. There were no obvious signs of abuse or foul play. Child Protective Services opened a case to investigate the incident Aug. 13.

The baby’s mother was out of town at the time of the boy’s death. No one has been arrested in this case.

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