LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Investigators in Leavenworth say a 1-year-old girl died at a hospital on Wednesday night, and the toddler’s injuries were suspicious.
Leavenworth police tell FOX4 that officers received a call just after 5:30 p.m. at the Woodland Village Apartments near Wilson Avenue and Limit Street, just west of Veterans Administration Park and the banks of the Missouri River.
Police said the 1-year-old was hurt, but so far the type of injuries haven’t been revealed.
The baby’s mother, Liberti Figueroa, spoke to FOX4 about what happened Wednesday.
A mom of two, Figueroa got back to her home after work around 2 p.m. Her boyfriend, who she now calls her ex, was already in their apartment. She thought her child, Saraphina Avarose Sanchez, had been sleeping.
“I told him to go check her up because he said she was sick,” Figueroa told FOX4. “It had been like three and a half, almost four, hours. I said, ‘Hey, she’s sleeping a little long.'”
By the time Figueroa got to see her baby, it was apparent she had been badly injured.
“He says, ‘Ah no. Your son dropped her out of her crib,'” Figueroa said. “My son is four! Four! My daughter has been bleeding like that, and he’s four. He wouldn’t do that to her.”
Figueroa called 911 just before 5:30 p.m.
“I sat there and watched my daughter for an hour and half getting CPR, begging her to come back and she wouldn’t,” she continued. “That man took my child from me.”
EMS workers took the 1-year-old to a hospital where they were pronounced deceased.
Figueroa said her boyfriend left after paramedics arrived, and she hasn’t seen him since.
Investigators are working to determine what happened and say that no one is currently in custody nor are there any suspects right now.
FOX4 also talked to Leavenworth Police on Thursday.
“Well, we have to make sure that we investigate this case fully to determine what happened and who if anyone was responsible for that,” Deputy Police Chief Dan Nicodemus said when asked about the mother’s claims her ex-boyfriend was involved in the death.
FOX4 has decided not to show the boyfriend’s picture or share his name since police have not identified him as a suspect.
Family has established a GoFundMe to help with Saraphina’s funeral and memorial.
