Autopsy offers no answers in death of 4-month-old

Karen Zekan

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Inconclusive autopsy reports have forced Metro Police to continue interviewing a local family and their baby sitter to figure out what killed a 4-month-old girl.

The coroner's examination found "no anatomical cause" to explain why the infant died the afternoon of Nov. 13 as paramedics transported her from her home in the 1400 block of Emerywheel Circle, near Owens Avenue and Pecos Road, said homicide Sgt. Ken Hefner.

Hefner said it is still too early for investigators to rule out foul play, yet added that such autopsy results are not uncommon in cases where a baby is later determined to have died from medical conditions such as sudden infant death syndrome.

"We still don't know exactly what happened," Hefner said. "We will be doing some follow-up interviews with the family members, which hopefully will tell us more."

Authorities have withheld the name of the baby and her family pending the completion of their investigation.

The infant's mother and father were alerted of the emergency by their 26-year-old live-in baby sitter -- identified only as the father's distant relative -- who was watching the family's five children while the couple were at work.

Detectives interviewed the baby sitter at length at Metro's detective bureau on the night of the death, as well as the baby's four siblings, the oldest of whom is 5. All have been cooperative with police, Hefner said. The baby sitter had been living with the family for more than a year.