The Essex District Attorney’s office is investigating the deaths of 3 babies involved with DCF
“The involvement of the DA’s office is required by law and should not in any way indicate that these deaths are criminal or not.”
Authorities are probing the deaths of three babies involved with the state’s Department of Children and Families since April.The Essex District Attorney’s office said the deaths under investigation occurred in Haverhill, Methuen, and Lawrence. “The involvement of the DA’s office is required by law and should not in any way indicate that these deaths are criminal or not,” Essex spokeswoman Carrie Kimball said in a statement. The first of the incidents occurred on April 18 when state police detectives with the DA’s office were notified that a 4-week-old baby boy, who had an open case with DCF at the time, died in Haverhill. Emergency services responded to reports of an unresponsive baby, and the child was transported to Holy Family at Merrimack Valley Hospital where he was pronounced dead. On April 25, emergency services responded to a report of an unresponsive baby in Methuen. The 3-month-old boy, who was in foster care, was transported to Holy Family Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The most recent death occurred on Sunday morning when a 15-month-old girl in foster care in Lawrence was reported as unresponsive. She was taken to Lawrence General Hospital where she died. Investigators are waiting for a ruling on the cause of death for all three babies from the state medical examiner’s office, according to the DA’s office.
In addition to the three children involved with DCF, the DA’s office is currently investigating “at least”‘ two other baby deaths, according to Kimball.
“We are conducting investigations and we consider and look at ALL of the evidence to determine what happened,” Kimball wrote. “Nothing is ruled in or out. It is PREMATURE to SPECULATE as to how any of these children died until the Medical Examiner makes their ruling, which you should all know by now, takes time.”
