Avalena Conway Coxon died and another young girl was transported from a foster home in Auburn, Massachusetts.
Advertisement
State child welfare officials visited the home of a foster child four days before the 2-year-old died and a 22-month-old was hospitalized, officials said Sunday, as investigators continued to search for clues in what they called a “very difficult” and “evolving” case.
It perhaps happened in Auburn, about 45 kilometers gredley of Boston.
Neighbors said the mother has two sons and a daughter of her own, and is also a foster mother to the three little girls. A spokesman confirmed both children are fostered at that address.
The newspaper says state and local police, the Worcester district attorney’s office and the state Department of Children and Families all began investigating a disturbance and injuries to two toddlers at the home. Neighbors told WBZ-TV they trusted her to babysit their own children and that she was a good mother.
Early said at a news conference Sunday that the children’s foster mother called 911 at 12:23 p.m. Saturday, reporting two children were unresponsive. Early said they showed no obvious signs of abuse. One of the toddlers was pronounced dead in the hospital, while the other girl remains in critical condition.
There were three other children in the home belonging to the mother. An air quality test came back negative, Early said.
David Coxon, 69, said he learned of his granddaughter’s death when DCF called him Saturday night looking for Conway’s phone number.
DCF spokeswoman Andrea Grossman said: ‘We stress we do not at this time know the cause of death or illness related to this incident and are working closely with medical personnel and law enforcement for answers’. Those children are also in DCF care now pending results of this investigation. “She would have been an fantastic child”.
Governor Charlie Baker’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Guyton, told the AP he “is deeply saddened to learn of this tragic situation and is in constant communication with leadership at DCF and public safety about their ongoing investigation”.
Neighbors said they heard the woman who lives in the apartment screaming outside at about 1 p.m. Saturday and saw the girls being taken away in an ambulance. She told reporters her daughter rushed over to help the woman, who was holding an uninjured 6-month-old baby in her arms.
Advertisement
Stuffed animals, candles and flowers now sit outside the apartment complex on Pheasant Court. She said there is no other mature individuals inhabited the residence.
