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West Allis child death investigation
A four-year-old is dead and investigators say the story about how it happened is not adding up. Now West Allis police are investigating it as a homicide.
WEST ALLIS, Wis. - A four-year-old is dead and investigators say the story about how it happened is not adding up.
Now West Allis police are investigating it as a homicide.
Records show four-year-old Dante Campbell’s mother – and her boyfriend – are in custody.
FOX6 dug through court records that detail how we got here.
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Child unresponsive
What we know:
Police presence near 108th and Greenfield
It was shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday morning, Oct. 18. A four-year-old boy was unresponsive.
When police got to the area of 108th and Greenfield in West Allis, paramedics were trying to save him.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner identified the boy as four-year-old Dante Campbell. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Death investigation
What we know:
A search warrant says he was covered in bruises.
Now court documents show what officers found as they investigated.
Minutes before someone called 911, filings say Campbell’s mother and her boyfriend pulled up to a friend’s home to drop off Campbell’s twin sister.
Investigators say someone heard the mother say, "I need to go to the hospital my son is not breathing, I think he is dead." Then they sped off.
Later, there was a 911 call from Campbell’s mother. Police would later find the three at the Dairy Queen.
Court filings say the mother told police her boyfriend had been watching her kids, noting he was quote, "heavy-handed" with discipline.
The boyfriend told police that morning he found Campbell quote ‘stiff’ and that he "smelled bad," saying the boy had fallen down a flight of stairs Friday evening.
At some point, the boy ended up in the car with his mom, his sister, and his mom’s boyfriend.
Filings say cops found three other kids in the apartment.
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Noting the bathroom had the "strong smell of rubbing alcohol" and the "smell of urine in the children’s northwest bedroom."
Investigators say Dante Campbell's bruising was inconsistent with falling down the stairs.
The mother and boyfriend remain in custody in the Milwaukee County Jail, but have not been charged in connection to the case.
West Allis police say they plan to refer charges to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
The Source: The West Allis Police Department posted an update on its Facebook page, and the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office provided additional information. FOX6 also used court filings to produce this story.