Police have arrested a man and a woman for investigation of homicide involving a 7-year-old boy who appeared to suffer from malnutrition.
Jon Phillips, 26, and Sarah Berry, 21, were being held in the death of the boy, whose identity was not released, said Denver police spokesman John White.
Paramedics tried to resuscitate the boy, discovered in a third-floor apartment at 3300 S. Tamarac St., authorities said.
The child was taken to Swedish Medical Center in cardiac arrest Sunday afternoon and was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m., White said.
The coroner’s office performed an autopsy Monday but has not issued a report, according to Chief Deputy Coroner Michelle Weiss-Samaras.
“We are investigating the death,” Weiss-Samaras said. “We have to determine whether this was a natural death or a non-natural death.”
She said more tests are being performed.
Police sources told 9News that the boy weighed about 30 pounds, but as for his condition, officers would say only that the boy appeared to be malnourished.
Several people who lived on the same floor as the couple said they had never met them. There were Christmas lights and a satellite dish on the balcony of the apartment where the boy lived.
“I didn’t know that anybody lived there,” one neighbor said.
The boy’s younger sibling was taken by Denver County Human Services and placed with a foster family on Tuesday, said Roxane White, manager of human services.
“He is safe and is being cared for by an outstanding foster family,” she said at a news conference. “He is receiving extensive services.”
White refused to talk about how the boys were related to Berry and Phillips or if the children had been in foster care.
Denver’s Human Services Department, along with Jefferson County Human Services, are cooperating with police in the investigation.
Sue Cobb, spokeswoman for Denver Human Services, said that Denver County did not place the child in the home. But because the death occurred in Denver, the department will lead the social service portion of the investigation. She would not say whether Jefferson County Human Services had placed the child in the home with Berry and Phillips.
A spokesperson for Jefferson County Human Services said they were involved but declined to comment further.White declined to release the dead child’s name because she said authorities are in the process of locating his family to notify them of his death.
“We are limiting our response today in order to make certain that the investigation by the Denver Police Department and the Denver District Attorney’s Office is not compromised in any manner,” she said.
The boy’s death came two months after a 7-year-old Evans girl, LoReyna Barea, was found weighing 35 pounds while being 48 inches tall. She died in March.
Chris Robillard of the Weld County coroner’s office said the final autopsy report has not been completed in that case.
He said no criminal charges have been filed in the case against anyone.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
