IMPD: Autopsy needed in toddler death

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A 2-year-old girl is dead and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police homicide detectives want to know what killed her. The one piece of evidence detectives need is the autopsy report from the Marion County coroner's office.

Police and paramedics were called to 201 Parkview Ave. on Indianapolis’ near east side just before midnight Tuesday. When they arrived they found a 2-year-old girl unresponsive. The child's mother told police the toddler fell sometime Tuesday night and just before midnight she stopped breathing. When medics took the girl to Methodist Hospital she was still not breathing and doctors at Methodist Hospital pronounced her dead.

24-Hour News 8 was told that it is standard procedure for homicide detectives to investigate a child’s death. And those detectives questioned the half dozen people at the home when medics arrived, including the child’s mother and her boyfriend. Child Protective Services also responded to the scene because the toddler had a twin brother. He is now in the custody of another family until the investigation is complete.

24-Hour News 8 tried to talk to neighbors to learn more about the family at 201 Parkview Ave.. One neighbor said the family had not lived there long. She said they moved in over the summer and had only lived at the home for a few months.

24-Hour News 8 spoke to another neighbor, Michelle, who wouldn’t give her last name, but said she is sad about what happened.

“Either the little girl was sick or she was getting abused,” she said. “And just one extra fall or hit is what did it. But I hope it wasn't that; I hope she was just sick or something."

It’s the same thing homicide detectives are trying to learn — was it an accidental death or something more? Detectives say the autopsy results can tell them the answer.