Father is charged with murder after his 11-month-old daughter was found unresponsive in his care a year after her toddler brother died in the same manner while in his care
A Mississippi father has been charged with murder after his 11-month-old daughter was found unresponsive - now investigators are probing whether he played a role in the death of another toddler in his care last year.
An investigation began on September 21 when officers found an unresponsive baby at an apartment in McComb, local police said on Tuesday.
The child’s mother, Luvenia Chambers, told officers that she left the baby in the care of the child’s father, Vantrease Frazier.
She said the baby was fine when she left for work, the McComb Police Department said in a news release.
When Chambers returned home, she found her daughter, Janiyah Chambers, lying unresponsive in bed, police said.
Vantrease Frazier , 39, of McComb, Mississippi, has been charged with murder after his 11-month-old daughter, Janiyah Chambers , was found unresponsive in her bed on September 21
Luvenia Chambers, Janiyah's mother, said she left her daughter with her father on September 21 and then left for work
Police said Janiyah was taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center and then transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson where she was kept in ICU in critical condition until she died September 23
The baby was taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center and then transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson where she was kept in ICU in critical condition until she died September 23, police said.
That same day, police interviewed Frazier and charged him with murder.
Bond informaton for Frazier was not immediately available. It was unknown if he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Police say Janiyah’s brother, Bralyn Blunt, died in a similar manner in May 2019, news outlets reported.
That boy was also left under Frazier’s care. That case remains under investigation.
According to public records, Chambers and Frazier previously lived in Chicago, the Clarion Leder reported.
Frazier was arrested three times while living in Chicago. In 2014, he was twice arrested for soliciting unlawful business.
The next year, he was arrested for possession of marijuana.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the McComb Police Department at 601-684-3023.