A 7-month-old baby was found “unresponsive” when he was pulled from a lake at a park in Australia by his mother at around 10:40 a.m. local time on Saturday, sparking a police investigation.
On Tuesday, homicide detectives arrested and charged a 42-year-old man with manslaughter after launching a probe over the baby’s “unexplained” death.
The man, whose name has not been released, was “known to the child,” police told The Post.
Emergency services responded to reports of an “unresponsive” baby at a park in Chatsworth, Queensland, the Queensland Police said in a statement. They soon discovered that the baby had drowned.
“The child was transported to hospital for treatment; however was declared deceased that night,” police said.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) notes that homicide detectives are involved in the investigation.
“There’s missing parts leading [up to the death] that we need to try to establish,” Wide Bay-Burnett police Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said, per the outlet.
“We’ve got some support from the child trauma unit and homicide investigation group working with the local detectives.”
Mansfield added that the baby was with both of his parents for a camping trip at the park, before heading home to North Queensland when “the incident happened the following morning.”
After the baby’s mother pulled him out of the water, “multiple people assisted with CPR,” 9News reports.
“We’ve had a lot of campers staying there overnight, and we’ve also had a lot of people popping in to use the facilities and the park,” Mansfield said. “We’re aware that some people have left at the time of the drowning of this infant child.”
He added that other vehicles that were parked in the nearby area are being tracked down and contacted for information, though they are not considered persons of interest.
The child trauma unit and the homicide investigation squad are supporting detectives with their investigation. The incident is not being treated as “suspicious.”
The Post has reached out to Wide Bay-Burnett Police for comment.
