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John Daley ReportingAn 18-month old child who had been under state custody and placed in foster care in a home in here in the Salt Lake Valley died today at Primary Children's Hospital. Now an independent investigation has begun to figure out whether it was possibly a shaken baby case or an accident.
The boy was rushed to Primary Children's Hospital last night from West Valley City and died at the hospital this morning.
Carol Sisco with the Utah Department of Human Services says the boy appeared to have been shaken, but authorities are not sure. That's something an independent investigation aims to answer.
Obviously--due to privacy laws--the name of the child or the family cannot be released. The boy and an older sister have been under state custody since February, placed in a couple of homes but at this home for quiet a while. The foster parents had been caring for these two children and also have two of their own.
The two foster children are members of the Ute tribe from the Uinta Basin, though their mother has been living in Salt Lake City. The boy's older sister has been removed from the foster home as well. The state's spokesperson says she's OK but was removed as a precaution.
She says it's not clear how long the investigation will take, but they're hoping to figure out just what happened as soon as possible.
