CANADA • Nihati Jha, 3 ~ Mississauga ON

Mississauga toddler death prompts investigation
September 23, 2011


Police are searching for evidence in the Green Meadow Crescent neighbourhood in Mississauga
after a three-year-old died on Sept. 21. (CBC)

The death of a three-year-old Mississauga girl on Wednesday has prompted a police investigation.

The toddler, from the Green Meadow Crescent neighbourhood near Dundas Street and Cawthra Road, was admitted to a local medical centre earlier this week with undisclosed injuries but was transferred on Tuesday to the Hospital for Sick Children where she died.

Police have said little but they are describing the death as suspicious.

"Because of the nature of the circumstances that we're aware of now and the age of the child the homicide bureau has taken over the lead investigation, again, with the assistance of the special victims unit," Peel Regional Police Sgt. Peter Brandwood said.

No charges have been laid and police have not said if they have any suspects.

Investigators searched the home where the toddler lived with her parents and six-year-old brother on Friday saying it was a potential crime scene.

Police have also spent the last three days canvassing the area without telling residents why.

"It's just crazy because we had no idea what was going on when we see all those police cars out there," said neighbour Nora Wioler."We were concerned when they came and asked us questions."

Although police remain tight-lipped about the investigation they've told parents that children in the area are not at risk.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/09/23/mississauga-toddle-death.html

DiManno: A child is dead, but who is she?
September 23, 2011

For three days, cops wandered in and out of a house on Green Meadow Cres. in Mississauga.

They knocked on doors in the neighbourhood, asking: “Have you seen anything?’’

Nearby residents peeked through drawn drapes and wondered what was going on, but mostly to themselves, not sharing their concerns with others. There doesn’t seem to be much over-the-fence chatting in this quiet residential area of semi-detached homes. Folks mind their own business.

A squad car was posted round-the-clock in the driveway though no police tape surrounded the house. A white van, unmarked, arrived and parked on the curb. Forensic technicians moved between the house and the vehicle, presumably retrieving evidence.

A child is dead.

Has a crime been committed?

Police, ostensibly, don’t know yet. And what they do know is being kept close to the vest.

Only on Friday, after reporters tipped to the strange goings-on began calling Peel Regional Police, was any official investigation even acknowledged. Det. Sgt. J.P. Maurice, from homicide, confirmed to the Star that he was in charge of the probe. A terse news release was issued by media affairs mid-afternoon.

The child: 3 years old.

The background: A youngster was taken to a walk-in medical clinic in Mississauga on Tuesday evening. The child’s condition was deemed critical, requiring immediate transportation to the Trillium Health Centre and from there rushed to Sick Kids hospital, placed on life-support. On Wednesday, the tot sadly died.

The circumstances: Not revealed. “Specific details of the incident are still under investigation,’’ according to the release.

No name. No cause of death. No gender, at first, though the victim was later described as female. No disclosure, still, of how or why a small child in our midst died.

This is mystifying and unsettling. So is the final sentence of the news release: “The identity of the child is being withheld until next of kin can be properly notified.’’

That implies the parents — either one or both — were not in the house and may not yet know they’ve lost a child. Or perhaps police put out a misleading, badly written statement. Or they simply don’t wish to divulge what they have ascertained thus far. (Peel is not known for providing timely information.)

Yet, at a news conference later in the day, Sgt. Peter Brandwood said the girl had been taken to the clinic by family members and that “there has been a lot of cooperation with the investigation.’’ This casts doubt on the necessity for not divulging the child’s identity.

“It’s a very disturbing case, unfortunately,’’ Brandwood said in a TV interview after merely repeating the scant details already made public. “Unfortunately, we don’t know the nature of the condition the girl was in when she first went to the walk-in clinic. She died as a result of something that is currently under investigation.’’

“What we do know is that, number one, it’s a tragic circumstance,’’ Brandwood added. “Very, very tragic.’’

A police source told the Star that the 3-year-old looked as if she’d been “shaken’’ when first examined and that a bookcase may have dropped on her. Yet the family members who brought her in, according to the source, claimed the youngster had been in a car crash, which is why the major collision unit was first to investigate.

Peel’s special victims unit was involved in the early investigative stage — because of the child’s age — and homicide has now taken over the lead.

“We’re not ruling out anybody in this investigation,’’ said Brandwood.

Three days, three medical institutions, and the community of which this child was a part remains in the dark.

The girl’s family lives in a basement unit of the house on Green Meadow. The family upstairs left the premises Friday morning and had not returned by last night. A Facebook page for one of the families at that address shows photos of an attractive young couple and their two young children. But the Star was unable to determine which family was depicted.

Phil Johnson, 57, lives across the street. He said a police officer showed up on his doorstep Tuesday asking questions but never saying why residents were being canvassed. “We’d seen the police cruiser parked there and my wife was getting really concerned. But we still don’t know any of the circumstances.’’

That was an oft-repeated refrain. While children playing outside are a frequent sight in the cul-de-sac, no one interviewed by the Star knew this little girl or her parents, the family apparently keeping a very low profile since moving in a couple of years ago.

“The police said not to talk about it,’’ said Amilcar Lopes, who lives next door to the modest red brick house. “They came and asked if I had seen any commotion, which I didn’t.”

Nothing appeared amiss next door, he said.

“They say hello on the way in, hello on the way out. I never saw anything out of the ordinary.’’

Officers had begun ringing doorbells on the street by late Tuesday evening. “When you see police cars outside, you kind of wonder,’’ said Flore Torres who, with her husband, has lived on the street for 19 years and raised their daughter there. “They said something like a child was injured, something like that.’’

Another nearby resident, Brenda, was annoyed that police asked for information but provided none in return. “I wish they’d told us what was going on. We live here. We have a right to know what’s going on. Instead I have to learn from TV that a child who lived almost next door is dead.’’

No official suspects yet and no charges laid — just a dead child without a name.


http://www.thestar.com/article/1058973--dimanno-a-child-is-dead-but-who-is-she

Police identify toddler in Mississauga homicide probe
September 27, 2011


A bouquet of white roses is seen outside the home of a Mississauga toddler who died
under suspicious circumstances.

Homicide investigators have identified a Mississauga toddler believed to have died under suspicious circumstances.

Police released Niyati Jha's name on Tuesday, nearly a week after the three-year-old died in a Toronto hospital.

Little is known about the circumstances leading up to Jha's death and police haven't said why a homicide squad is investigating.

Peel police confirmed the girl was taken to a Mississauga hospital last Tuesday. She was then transported to a local hospital before being rushed to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children in critical condition. Jha died the next day.

Inspector George Koekkoek with Peel's homicide bureau said police are still waiting for a pathologist to determine the cause of death.

"Investigators are awaiting the results of additional forensic and medical evidence. We remain focused on determining, based on the evidence, what caused the death of this young girl," he said in a release.

The toddler's parents are in their 30s and live in a basement apartment of a home near Cawthra Road and Dundas Street East.

Police have not identified any suspects and no charges have been laid yet.

Anyone with information on Jha's death is encouraged to call Peel's homicide bureau at 905-453-2121 ext. 3205. Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110927/police-identify-mississauga-toddler-110927/20110927/?hub=TorontoNewHome