Law enforcement officials are investigating the death of a 17-month-old Riverside girl after the Washington County medical examiner ruled her death was a homicide.
The medical examiner told the Des Moines Register Avery McCoy weighed 11 pounds when she died in November 2016. He said the exact cause was undetermined, but malnutrition and neglect were factors.
Some residents in Riverside said they were shocked to hear the medical examiner's announcement. One man said he didn't even know about Avery's death until a couple days ago.
"You just wonder what was going on with that. Did it slip through the cracks or did they not have the resources available to them?" said Tom McLaughlin of Riverside.
A couple neighbors said they had seen some kids playing in the yard before but they also saw adults yelling a lot and letting garbage pile up in the yard. Officials received a call for service at 1061 Poplar Blvd in Riverside on November 9th, 2016. That's when Avery died.
McLaughlin said it's hard to know for sure if there's a major problem going on in someone else's household even when they notice that something isn't right.
"It's an anomaly. They're just having a bad day. I don't want to get them in trouble. But the thing is about that - you never know. You don't know if that's an ongoing thing," said McLaughlin.
Washington County Attorney John Gish said prosecutors have not yet filed charges in connection with the girl's death, and because "the law enforcement investigation is still open, it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time as to whether charges will be filed."
Avery's parents, Anthony McCoy and Ambrashia Chrzan, have 11 other children. One brother died before Avery.
http://www.kwqc.com/content/news/17-month-olds-death-ruled-a-homicide-440964943.html
