Local & State Headlines

Child death probed

• An autopsy is scheduled today in the apparent drowning death of an Albany toddler.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — A 3-year-old boy is dead after authorities say he may have drowned at a South Albany apartment Friday morning.

The child, whose name hasn’t been released, was taken by ambulance to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by coroner Emma Quimbley around 10:30 a.m.

Because of his age, the county’s Child Fatality Investigations Unit, which is headed up by members of the District Attorney’s Office, was notified.

“We have a 3-year-old child death,” Assistant District Attorney Chris Cohilas said Friday. “We’ll know more about what happened after an autopsy tomorrow.”

Vincent Soilberry, the boyfriend of the child’s mother, was jailed Friday on unrelated criminal trespass charges and is being held without bond at the Dougherty County Jail, Cohilas said.

According to police reports, officers responded to Phoebe in reference to a child drowning. When they arrived, police were told by hospital staff that the child wasn’t capable of sustaining himself without medical equipment, the report says. That’s when Quimbley was notified.

At the scene, police forensic specialists documented the apartment and spoke with witnesses.

Investigators refused to speculate as to how the drowning occurred, but did say that the direction of their investigation likely would hinge on today’s autopsy results.

“The direction of the investigation may change depending on what we hear from Atlanta tomorrow,” Cohilas said.

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