Representatives from the Department of Children and Families had been on the scene just days before police were called to a house where a 5‑month old baby boy was found badly injured Friday.
The baby, Kyle Robinson, died Sunday at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The state’s medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
The baby and two other young children were being watched Friday night by their mother’s boyfriend in the mother’s Hubbell Avenue home.
Police identified the baby’s mother as Kelly Robinson-Maresca.
Doctors believe the death may have been caused by shaken baby syndrome, according to Ansonia police spokesman Lt. Andrew Cota.
Police are building a case against a suspect, Cota said. That suspect has not been identified.
It could be some time before police obtain an arrest warrant, Cota said. Detectives need to interview the mother, the boyfriend and doctors to get more information about the baby’s schedule and health.
“We’re still talking with the hospital and the medical examiner’s office to get our facts correct,” Cota said.
DCF Involvement
The family was known to DCF workers.
DCF first became involved with the family in April after an unspecified incident, according to a DCF statement issued Wednesday.
“A comprehensive medical evaluation determined that the reported incident was accidental,” according to the statement.
DCF officials received a second complaint in May, which was declared “substantiated neglect” against the mother’s boyfriend for leaving the children unattended for a “very brief” period of time.
DCF workers put a plan in place calling for a relative to assist the boyfriend and mother in caring for the children. In-home services were being arranged and a DCF worker or workers had been at the residence just days before Kyle’s death, according to the statement.
“During the most recent visit with the family days before the child’s death, the department found the children well attended and cared for. Further investigation by the department will be conducted,” the statement reads.
Shaken Baby Syndrome?
When police arrived, the baby had no obvious signs of injury. Police and medics administered aid before bringing the child to the hospital.
“When officers arrived, there were no outward signs (of injury),” Cota said. “No cut on the outside of the head or anything like that. Everything was internal.”
That’s typical of some shaken baby syndrome cases, said a spokesperson for the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.
“Blunt force head trauma could come from impacting the child’s head with something, or it could be shaking the child — with or without trauma,” said Amy Wicks, the center’s information and research specialist.
Wicks said shaken baby syndrome is not caused by “everyday handling.”
“It is a very, very violent whiplash type motion of the head, with or without impact,” Wicks said. “You don’t see these types of injuries from dropping the child, or kids learning to walk.”
Neighbors React
Lori Henderson lives across the street from the two-family house where the baby had lived.
“I came out Friday night to come outside and the whole street was cornered off with police, ambulance and everything else,” Henderson said.
She said another neighbor tried to do CPR on the child and that milk was seen dripping from the child’s mouth.
“No child, no person, no animal deserves to be treated that way,” Henderson said.
Another neighbor who would only give his name as “John,” said Robinson-Maresca and her children moved into the house last fall. The boyfriend came into a picture a few months ago.
“It’s sad, no matter how you look at it,” John said.
