Boy, 5, dies, police suspect beating

Police are investigating the death of a five-year-old boy who doctors were unable to resuscitate when he was taken to the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) of the Port of Spain General Hospital on Friday morning.

The Laventille boy is said to have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was a patient of the paediatric hospital at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope.

The boy was taken to the Port of Spain hospital by his step-father who told the medical staff that his step-son was vomiting and became unresponsive before he was brought to A&E.

All attempts to resuscitate the boy were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 11.11 am by a doctor.

The medical staff made a report to the Belmont Police Station and Sgt Jones and PC McCully responded. The officers viewed the boy's body which appeared to have extensive marks of violence. There appeared to be bruises on the front torso, face and back and signs of old injuries which had healed.

The boy's mother, who is seven months pregnant, was contacted and arrived at the hospital.

Sgt Jones made a report to Region 1 of the homicide unit which is now investigating the case under the supervision of acting Insp Persad.