UPDATE, 8:40 P.M. – The Richmond County Coroner’s Office has identified the 16-month-old as Trae’son Dunn.
AUGUSTA, Ga. () – Residents were left in disbelief on Tuesday after the tragic discovery of a 16-month-old child who had died, alongside another young child being transported to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia.
“I glanced out the window and saw a flurry of sirens—fire trucks, police vehicles, ambulances. I couldn’t quite see their exact location, but they were right in this vicinity, and I realized something serious was occurring,” remarked Sonia Jones.
The Richmond County Coroner’s Office responded to a home on Ward Avenue in South Augusta after reports of a child death.
A 16-month-old child was found dead at the home, and another young child was transported to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia.
“My son recently had a baby girl—she’s 5 months old. It makes you think because children are our future. Hearing news like this, it’s truly heartbreaking,” Kenneth Blount expressed.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating the incident.
While no arrests have been made, this is now the 4th time this year that the Sheriff’s Office has responded to the same home.
Recent incident reports show that deputies were called there in February for “harassing phone calls”, “stolen property” in March, and “criminal trespassing” in April.
“It’s sad. It’s sad that the kids can’t be safe in the neighborhood, whatever’s going on. We have to watch these babies. All of us around here, we look after each other’s kids, when they play they play together. That’s just sad,” said Jones.
Child Enrichment Director Kari Viola-Brooke says the neighborhood is what it takes to raise a child, and it’s important to talk when they see something wrong.
“We really need to rely on adults to step up when they have concerns, or they see something to make a report about it. That’s another thing we offer here at Child Enrichment is free, mandated reporter training. We’re doing a training next week, open to the public, where people can come and recognize signs of what to do if they have concerns of abuse,” said Viola-Brooke.
There’s no word on the surviving child’s condition or how the toddler died, but an autopsy is scheduled.
Count on NewsChannel 6 to bring you the latest information as soon as it becomes available.
