Spokane detectives are investigating the death of a 14-month-old girl. Her parents claim their daughter was sleeping on a mattress inside of a closet when a dresser fell on her.
Police and fire crews responded to a 9-1-1 call around 4:00 p.m. on July 3 stating a dresser had fallen on a young girl.
When first responders arrived, court documents say the girl's mother met them outside. She handed over her child to fire personnel who found that she was already deceased.
In their statement to police, fire personnel noted that the child was cold to the touch and had a deep cut on the back of her head.
The child's mother told police she had returned from work on July 3 around 2:30 a.m. She said she believed the father of their two children had put them to bed at 10:00 p.m. that night.
The mother further said she and the father slept until 1:00 p.m. and didn't check on the children until 3:00 p.m. when she fed them peanuts.
Detectives also spoke with the child's father who told them he put the kids to bed at midnight on July 3. He said he didn't check on or feed the children and had no knowledge of the mother checking on them until he found the daughter unresponsive under a dresser in the closet.
The father noted that he did not have a cell phone. The mother said she had a phone inside the apartment but summoned a neighbor to make the 9-1-1 call.
The Spokane Medical Examiner conducted an initial examination of the deceased girl outside of the apartment. They noticed a small cut on the back of the child's head, injuries to the chest and torso and bruises on the body that were in various stages of healing.
Detectives noted that the toddler had been found lying on her back where the dresser is said to have fallen, yet she had a cut on the back of her head. Detectives don't know what she was cut with.
It was the Medical Examiner's opinion that the child had been deceased long before the the 9-1-1 call was made.
Detectives also examined the second child. The 3-year-old was wearing only a diaper and was notably dirty. Child Protective Services was called to take custody and investigate on the child's behalf.
A search warrant has been requested for items inside the children's room including the dresser, mattress, bedding, DNA trace evidence, any blunt objects possibly used to cut the child's head and other evidence that could assist the investigation.
According to the search warrant declaration document, detectives are investigating homicide and criminal mistreatment of the children.
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