Calgary police investigate suspicious death of 2-year-old girl in Midnapore

Calgary police are investigating the ​suspicious death of a child in the southeast community of Midnapore.

Around 2:15 a.m., the Calgary Police Service responded to a home along ​the 0 to 100 block of Bannister Manor SE ​for reports of a toddler in medical distress.

Later in the morning, police confirmed to Global News a child died. In a news release after that, police said the two-year-old girl was transported to hospital by EMS; however, after life-saving attempts were unsuccessful, the girl was pronounced dead.

Police are now treating the death as suspicious and an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.

During the time officers were present at the home, a man was taken into custody and arrested for “suspicion of homicide” though no charges have been laid.

Neighbours in the area told Global News they heard “screaming and shouting” early Thursday.

“(The mother) was yelling in the middle of the street that ‘My baby’s not breathing. Somebody help. Why isn’t the ambulance here yet?’” Sarah Scheer, a neighbour and area mother, told Global News.

She said a man she assumed was the woman’s boyfriend waited outside the home until emergency responders arrived and took them in the house.

1:57 Drugs behind deaths of 9 Alberta youth in care between October 2021 and March 2022

“EMS was in there for maybe about 20 minutes before they pulled (the girl) out on a stretcher and they were still doing compressions on her, but I guess she didn’t make it,” Scheer said, noting she saw the girl riding past on a tricycle earlier in the week.

She said the parents in the neighbourhood are trusting of each other: area kids play with each other and are often in each other’s homes.

“I was just thinking the other day, actually, when I was hanging out with a few of the moms, ‘What a nice neighborhood. I haven’t had a vibe like this in a place in so long,’” Scheer said.

“And then this happens.

“I’m not really sure how to process it, honestly. It’s a lot and it just makes you grateful for the time you have with your family.”

In a news release, police said detectives are interviewing a number of people to determine the events leading up to the child’s death.

Police added no further updates will be provided at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers.