Separate Deaths Of 2 Toddlers In Mass. Under Investigation

The unexplained deaths of two small children over the weekend, one in her crib, the other in a bath tub, are under investigation, authorities said Monday.

Chauncey Cohen, 4, was brought to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton at about 8:40 p.m. Sunday by his mother, Tania Merisca, after he became unresponsive while she was bathing him, said Russ Eonas, a spokesman for the Plymouth district attorney's office. When the child died about an hour later, hospital officials alerted police.

Eonas would only say that the child died "under suspicious circumstances." The child had been at a city hotel before being brought to the hospital, but authorities did not explain why.

Merisca told reporters at her home that she wants answers about her son's death, which she called "a nightmare." She said she, her boyfriend and son had been at the hotel when she left Chauncey with her boyfriend and went to work. She said Chauncey seemed ill when she returned and she gave him a bath.

In a second case, the "sudden unexplained" death of a 2-year-old girl in Haverhill on Sunday is under investigation by the Essex district attorney's office.

The girl's father found her unresponsive in her bed after putting her down for a nap, office spokeswoman Carrie Kimball-Monahan said.

"EMTs responded to a 911 call and transported her to Merrimack Valley Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m.," she said in a statement.

No names were released in the Haverhill case.

Autopsies on both children are scheduled. Authorities did not indicate whether either child was injured.

There was no word on criminal charges in either case.

"The goal of the investigation is to determine the facts and circumstances of the fatality and ultimately decide whether criminal charges are warranted," Kimball-Monahan said.