By Dawn Burleigh

The Orange Leader

A young boy was killed by manual suffocation in the setting of child abuse according to a preliminary autopsy preformed Tuesday afternoon.

The preliminary autopsy reported the child to be 16 months old but persons knowing the child have reached out to The Orange Leader to state the baby was actually 18 months old.

The child was brought to the hospital in Orange on Monday and was later pronounced deceased despite the efforts of the nurses from the Infusion Clinic in operations at the campus who immediately began medical care to sustain the child until first responders arrived on Monday.

A woman, reported to be the mother of the child, told officers she was unaware the hospital emergency room was closed.

Jefferson County Justice of the Peace Pct. 4 Ray Chesson ordered the autopsy after the baby had been transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital where he was declared deceased.

The preliminary autopsy report also named the preliminary manner of death as a homicide, making this the second homicide in Orange County this year, both for children under the age of three.

One month earlier, a man was charged with capital murder after killing his two-year-old daughter. Yovahnis Rogue, 26, has been charged with capital murder in that incident.

At this time, no arrests have been made in connection with the death of the baby boy.