Neighbors Say Child’s Death A Mystery

(Memphis) People living in one Frayser neighborhood have as many questions as police  about the death of a four-year-old child.

The toddler’s father said he died after he was hit on the head with a stick by an older child.

It happened September 4th in the 2000 block of Pamela.

The child was taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital where he slipped into a coma.

He died a week later.

One neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, remembers seeing the boy and his two brothers playing in the yard that day.

He told us he never heard or saw anything that would lead him to believe a child had been hurt.

“It’s just normal. They were outside playing with a little hot wheel,” said the man.

Several hours later, around midnight, he noticed the children’s parents sitting on the front porch.

He says he didn’t realize until an ambulance pulled up, they were holding their injured four-year-old son.

“The female paramedic picked up the baby and they worked with the baby and then walked to the ambulance with the baby and worked on the baby there, and then left,” said the man.

The boy’s father told police his son had been playing in their yard earlier in the day, when he was hit in the head by another child.

The man told neighbors he didn’t know the boy, but that he was about nine years old.

Neighbors say they’ve never seen anyone like that on their street, and can’t help but wonder why they never heard anything after the child was hurt.

“I play basketball right here and I’ve seen the baby and I know the baby’s reaction. The baby cries when he doesn’t get what he wants. So, now imagine if this baby gets hit. It’s 10 times worse,” said Deunte Beauregard.

Police say the cause of the child’s death has not been determined.