The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
http://www.nbc10.com/news/4892537/detail.html
Police: Boy Did Not Die In Fall, It Was Homicide
Investigators Question Child's Caretaker
POSTED: 6:06 pm EDT August 24, 2005
UPDATED: 10:14 am EDT August 25, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- The death of 3-year-old Quazir Davis has been ruled a homicide.
The boy was found dead Tuesday in north Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday that an autopsy showed the boy died from blunt force trauma, not from a fall.
Late Tuesday night, homicide and crime scene investigators combed through a north Philadelphia apartment on Tioga Street, removing several bags of evidence.
Police also took the resident of the apartment, Althia McKee, into custody for questioning Tuesday night.
McKee, identified as the child's ca
retaker, had told police that Quazir fell from a set of monkey bars at a nearby playground. But a construction worker at the apartment -- who did not want to be identified -- said that she saw McKee carrying the child from the apartment at about the time the child was suppose to have been at the playground.
"I was walking in the building. She came out, the baby in her arms. The baby was dangling, like it wasn't moving, like it was asleep. She came out of the building and she was walking fast," the woman said.
In an exclusive interview with NBC 10 News, the mother of the boy said she is in financial straits and doesn't know how she'll play for her son's funeral.
The medical examiner said Davis was murdered by blunt force trauma and the child died sometime after she left him with a babysitter earlier this week. The woman wouldn't comment about the babysitter, but did say she was a good mother.
"I did everything, as a mother, to secure my child," Davis' mother said.
Davis' father said he's
been fighting for custody since the child was born, NBC 10 News reported.
"I wish you all could show her the pictures that I've got," the father said. "I wish you all could show her the pictures that I've got to look at -- from that beautiful little boy to that beat up little body."
Residents in the area told NBC 10 News that on Tuesday morning they called 911 because they heard a child screaming and crying. When police arrived at McKee's apartment, she allegedly told police that Quazir had a nightmare, had wet his pants and woke up screaming and crying.
So far, no arrests have been made.
Police: Boy Did Not Die In Fall, It Was Homicide
Investigators Question Child's Caretaker
POSTED: 6:06 pm EDT August 24, 2005
UPDATED: 10:14 am EDT August 25, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- The death of 3-year-old Quazir Davis has been ruled a homicide.
The boy was found dead Tuesday in north Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday that an autopsy showed the boy died from blunt force trauma, not from a fall.
Late Tuesday night, homicide and crime scene investigators combed through a north Philadelphia apartment on Tioga Street, removing several bags of evidence.
Police also took the resident of the apartment, Althia McKee, into custody for questioning Tuesday night.
McKee, identified as the child's ca
retaker, had told police that Quazir fell from a set of monkey bars at a nearby playground. But a construction worker at the apartment -- who did not want to be identified -- said that she saw McKee carrying the child from the apartment at about the time the child was suppose to have been at the playground.
"I was walking in the building. She came out, the baby in her arms. The baby was dangling, like it wasn't moving, like it was asleep. She came out of the building and she was walking fast," the woman said.
In an exclusive interview with NBC 10 News, the mother of the boy said she is in financial straits and doesn't know how she'll play for her son's funeral.
The medical examiner said Davis was murdered by blunt force trauma and the child died sometime after she left him with a babysitter earlier this week. The woman wouldn't comment about the babysitter, but did say she was a good mother.
"I did everything, as a mother, to secure my child," Davis' mother said.
Davis' father said he's
been fighting for custody since the child was born, NBC 10 News reported.
"I wish you all could show her the pictures that I've got," the father said. "I wish you all could show her the pictures that I've got to look at -- from that beautiful little boy to that beat up little body."
Residents in the area told NBC 10 News that on Tuesday morning they called 911 because they heard a child screaming and crying. When police arrived at McKee's apartment, she allegedly told police that Quazir had a nightmare, had wet his pants and woke up screaming and crying.
So far, no arrests have been made.