The Morant Bay police in St. Thomas are probing the circumstances under which a four-month-old infant died in Bamboo River last Thursday evening, after an alleged fogging of mosquitoes by the St. Thomas Public Health Department.

The child, Tyreke Rashawn Cuff, according to his mother, 17-year-old Latoya Stewart, was one of a pair of healthy twins who was pronounced dead at the Princess Margaret Hospital following the fogging.

Aunt calling for help

In a statement given to the police, Ms. Stewart said that she left the twins and other children in her one-bedroom house asleep, with an aunt supervising them. She said while returning she heard the aunt calling out for someone to get the other baby out of the house. She added that she rushed inside the house and found the room engulfed in smoke.

The child, who was reportedly not breathing or moving, was taken by a relative to the hospital where the infant was pronounced dead. The mother said that the babies were healthy before the sudden death of Tyreke and she believes that the child died as a result of the fogging.

The aunt, Alma Stewart, told The Gleaner that about 6:00 p.m. Thursday, men came to the house to fog mosquitoes. She said that when they knocked on the gate, she told them not to enter as there were children inside.

"I was here. Mi tell dem don't come in, dem push di gate and come in; mi tell dem no spray the house 'cause baby in dey, but dem start spray everywhere," Alma said.

Mosquito infestation

She claimed that the house in which the babies were asleep was fogged.

Chief Public Health Inspector for St. Thomas, Charles Lewis, confirmed that two groups of workers from the Public Health Department were deployed to the area to carry out fogging, following reports of mosquito infestation in the community. Mr. Lewis said that he received a call from the Morant Bay police about the child's death but has had no formal report on what is being alleged and thus has to wait on a post-mortem before any further investigation can be carried out.

The Morant Bay police, who are investigating the infant's death, say the matter is being treated as a sudden death, until a post-mortem is done on the body.