Infant’s death in Merced is ‘suspicious,’ detective says. What’s next in the case?

A Merced police detective on Thursday described the death of an infant girl earlier this week as “suspicious.”

Detective-Sgt. Rey Alvarez, however, stopped short of calling the child’s death investigation a homicide case.

No arrests have been made, Alvarez told the Sun-Star in a telephone interview.

The child was pronounced dead early Tuesday morning at Mercy Medical Center in Merced. Police and paramedics scrambled to a home in the first block of West 12 Street just before 3 a.m. after the infant stopped breathing and someone alerted emergency responders. Police have said they believe the infant was about 1 to 2 months old.

Police have not commented on any details in connection with the parents and have not released their identities. The Merced County Coroner’s Office on Thursday declined to release the child’s name.

Deputy Daryl Allen, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said Merced police investigators have asked the Coroner’s Office to withhold the child’s identity to protect the investigation.

An autopsy is expected to help determine the cause of death.

Police have acknowledged they’re proceeding very carefully in the investigation.

“Our investigators will make sure that this is thoroughly investigated and we know now that whatever we do, we are doing it on behalf of the small child to make sure that the truth of the matter is revealed,” Police Capt. Bimley West said earlier this week.

Alvarez on Thursday said investigators still were trying to determine who else may have been at the home around the time the infant stopped breathing.

“We’ve heard that there were, in addition to the parents, there were other people at the house,” Alvarez told the Sun-Star.

The Police Department has received numerous calls from people in the community and detectives plan to interview any potential witnesses.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Alvarez at 209-388-7705.