ST PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Police Department is investigating the death of a toddler in the city's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood.
SPPD identified the toddler Monday as 2-year-old Melody Vang. Police initially said the girl was 3 years old, but confirmed on Monday that she was actually just 2.
It happened in the early hours of Sunday morning, SPPD spokesperson Sergeant Mike Ernster said during a press briefing. According to Ernster, a man called the department's non-emergency line asking for assistance, then hung up.
Officers responded to the address at around 2:30 a.m., Ernster said. The officers said they spoke to the man who called. According to a release distributed to reporters at the conference, the man said he "thought his 3-year-old daughter was dead on the back porch."
Officers found the girl "unresponsive and unconscious" on the back porch, Ernster said. Paramedics responded and pronounced her dead.
"Anybody losing their life is sad, but somebody with her whole life ahead of her, it's tough to imagine," says David Lijewski, who lives across the street.
Five other children in the home were placed into Ramsey County Child Protection custody, Ernster said. Their ages ranged from 9 months to 11 years.
Ernster said after officers interviewed them, the child's mother and father were taken to the Ramsey County Jail on suspicion of murder. The child's mother, Ciashia Lee, is charged with one count of second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony.
"Tragically, we ended 2020 talking about the death of a 2-year-old in St. Paul," Ernster said. "Now we are talking about our first homicide of 2021, involving a 3-year-old (now confirmed to be 2)."
“Anybody who touched this call will never forget it,” he told reporters.
