More questions than answers in infant?s death
If you have been watching U.S. cable television you couldn’t help but notice the media frenzy over the arrest of a suspect in the 1996 death of Jonbenet Ramsey in Colorado. And while many observers are sceptical of the supposed confession of the accused, his guilt or innocence will be conclusively proven by D.N.A. testing. If things were only so clear cut in every case involving the death of a child … Today I followed up on our own country’s most recent tragedy and discovered more questions than answers.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
We may never know what caused the death of fourteen month old Jaisha Smith. According to pathologist Doctor Mario Estradabran on Monday he conducted the post mortem that took two hours to complete. Estradabran says the examination result is not only inconclusive but that he found no evidence to suggest that the baby drowned.
Dr. Mario Estradabran, Pathologist
?So the child did not have that strong blue coloration of finger nails one. Two immediately after death approximately about one hour or two hours there is a pressure inside the lungs due to the fluids pressing in there and then the victim or the child would start to produce what we call foam coming through the nostrils and it was not present.?
?First of all we checked the trachea, which is the windpipe and occasionally we find particles of materials that should not be there at the time of the child or the baby was gasping for air and I did not see any. And then the fluids entering the lungs produce an inflammation of the lungs. It is what we call in forensic medicine as ballooning syndrome, so the lungs appears like a balloon, full of air and water. And the lungs of this baby did not have those characteristics.?
Estradabran say the examination did reveal the baby had recently eaten rice and beans and that the food had not yet been digested. On Monday, the thirteen year old babysitter told News Five she had just given the baby a bottle and put Jaisha to lie in the crib when she left the house for some twenty minutes. Today the babysitter maintains she found the baby head down in a bucket of water when she returned.
Dr. Mario Estradabran
?It is inconclusive or undetermined. That means the diagnosis is not known through microscopic examination of the child or through post mortem. So the police needs to investigate the case. The police and the crime scene people that were in contact at the beginning of the investigation have to investigate the case a bit more.?
Equally troubling is that there were no signs of violence on the baby?s body or any other possible evidence to suggest the infant was killed. Samples of the baby?s lung tissue have been taken to try and determine the cause of death. That result will not be available until one month.
Jacqueline Godwin
?We know the pathologist preliminary report is inconclusive what message does it send to the police??
G. Michael Reid, Police Press Officer
?It sends the message that it is certainly not definite as to what this cause of death is. The doctor has told us that he will do further testing to try to determine exactly what occurred. The police have got to wait on that before any determination is made. If we can proceed further on this.?
Carol Fonseca, Director, Women?s Affairs
?It certainly is very disturbing. The entire ministry is certainly very concerned about this situation. We are certainly looking into the matter. We are going to do a thorough investigation to find out exactly all the details as of today. We are still waiting for certain reports to come in from the police, so at this time I really can?t comment any further about the investigation.?
G. Michael Reid
?Whether it be negligence, whether it be just parents not what they ought to be doing to ensure safety or whether it be criminal we are very, very concerned.?
Baby Jaisha Smith will be laid to rest on Wednesday.
