A homicide investigation is underway after the death of a seven-month-old baby in northern Alberta.
At about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, RCMP received a report from the High Prairie Hospital of the sudden death of a baby boy.
Officers said the death happened at a residence in High Prairie, a town about 360 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
The boy’s family told Global News they dropped him off at day home on Oct. 6 and later received a phone call to come to hospital because their son had died.
Cpl. Deanna Fontaine with the Alberta RCMP media relations group said the boy was not killed at his own home, but wouldn’t speak further about the residence where he died, adding “that may change as time passes.”
It’s not known how the baby got to the hospital.
An autopsy was performed on Tuesday at the Edmonton office of the chief medical examiner. The infant’s death has been ruled homicide.
The boy’s father and maternal grandmother spoke to Global News and identified him as Oaklan Reid Cunningham.
“He was just amazing,” Rhonda Walter-Desjarlais, Cunningham’s grandmother, told Global News on Thursday night. “He brought joy.”
“I believe he came to us at a time where we needed him. … He brought so much joy.”
Fontaine said the cause of the baby’s death is still part of the investigation and has not been released.
“That is not something that we would typically ever release as part of an investigation because there is a lot of information that constitutes part of the investigation that might jeopardize our ability to further our investigation,” she explained.
Fontaine said there is no concern for public safety. She said there are persons of interest in the case but at this time, no arrests have been made.
“We have very experienced investigators involved in this case who are working very diligently in order to further this investigation,” Fontaine said.
“We would like to send our condolences to the family of that infant who has died. This is a very tragic case and very difficult for that family and for their loved ones, and for the community at large.”
Walter-Desjarlais described Cunningham’s mother and father as “awesome parents.” She said the RCMP has not told her where her grandson died or how, but she has her suspicions about what may have happened and who may have been responsible, suggesting she does not believe a family member was involved.
“Maybe we’ll never know the absolute truth about what happened … but something happened to him,” Walter-Desjarlais said.
She added that Cunningham was born in Grande Prairie but moved to High Prairie in April because his mother wanted to be closer to family who could help raise him.
The Alberta RCMP major crimes unit has taken over the investigation, along with the assistance of High Prairie RCMP, Alberta RCMP forensic identification services and the western Alberta district RCMP general investigation section.
— With files from Global News’ Morgan Black
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