Sacramento Mother Returns Home To Find 2-Year-Old Son Died In Babysitter's Care

SACRAMENTO – An investigation is under way after a Sacramento mother came home to find her 2-year-old son died while in the care of his babysitter Tuesday.

The mother found her son unresponsive at their Arden-Arcade apartment in the 2900 block of Watt Avenue, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

Neighbor Linda Hernandez did her best to save her friend's baby boy by performing CPR. Hernandez says the mother was upstairs screaming, saying her child wasn't breathing.

"So I went up there and he was in the bathroom. The baby was grey, purple lips, and I took him from her and started performing CPR on him," she said.

Officers say the mother had apparently left her son with a babysitter. Neighbors indentified the man as Sam, who also lives in the apartment complex.

When the mom returned home, investigators say, Sam told her something was wrong with her baby. He was unresponsive.

"That's crazy," neighbor Edward Thompson said.

"Oh, I felt hurt," neighbor Debbie Trujillo said.

As emergency crews brought the baby out of the apartment, some noticed bruising on his body.

"When the ambulance brought him down the stairs, all the baby had on was a diaper," said Trujillo.

Neighbors say Sam, the alleged babysitter, was at the mom's apartment often.

"It's sad. A lot of people here are sad," said neighbor Shirley Morriss.

The mom is somewhere still grieving, but so is Hernandez.

"I needed to help that child. I tried to revive him," Hernandez said.

The sheriff's department is currently investigating, but no arrests have been made at this time.

Although the death has been classified as a homicide by the coroner's office, this is only done so as a protocol. A cause of death is still pending an autopsy.

CBS13 tried reaching out to Sam for comment, but he was not home.