Durham Police have laid a murder charge in connection with the death of a young child in Oshawa.
They have charged the new boyfriend of the child's mother with second-degree murder. The 26-year-old Oshawa man appeared in court on Friday afternoon.
A 2�-year-old boy was found dead by emergency personnel when they responded to a 911 call and came to his basement-apartment residence shortly before noon on Tuesday, Durham police said in a news release. They said a man was at the scene when emergency workers arrived.
Neither the accused nor the victim can be named due to a court order issued Friday afternoon, Insp. Jamie Grant of Durham Police told reporters.
"Children are so innocent and to see them where they're in a position that they can't defend themselves against these terrible crimes is sad. It's difficult. It tugs at your heart," he said.
Neighbours described a cute, happy boy.
On the social networking site Facebook, the boy's mother wrote: "He touched the lives of so many people. My life will never be the same without him. I wish I had some profound words to say but I am speechless."
His father added: "I will love you forever ... I will still talk to you every day. You were my best friend and always will be. You are in my heart, buddy. I'm not letting you leave me."
One of two deaths
The boy, Durham region's first homicide victim of 2010, was one of two children to die suddenly in Durham that day. However, there is no connection between the two events.
Earlier on Friday, a coroner ruled out the H1N1 virus in what had been reported as the sudden deaths of the two children at Durham region's Lakeridge Health Centre.
"Based on the information we have at this time, we have no reason to believe that this would be, for example, related to H1N1, which has been in the media ... we have nothing to suggest this is related to either of these deaths," said Dr. William Lucas, Durham region's supervising coroner, said Friday.
The children died Tuesday within 24 hours of each other. They weren't patients at the Oshawa hospital, but had been rushed there. They were from separate families.
The other child was nine years old. Autopsies were conducted on Friday. Police said the autopsy confirmed the young boy was a homicide victim, having died of trauma.
Lakeridge Health said in a Thursday news release that it would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of death. It cited privacy concerns as a reason why it had to be careful in releasing information.
"Even Lakeridge Health's most seasoned hospital staff are finding this difficult. We have arranged services to support them during this time," Lakeridge, which operates six hospitals in the area east of Toronto, said in its news release.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin
