Police found the body of a three-month-old baby in a freezer in Corowa. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses the death of a child and contains information some may find distressing.
An inquest has found there was not enough evidence to determine the cause of death of a three-month-old baby found in a freezer in Corowa three years ago.
The infant, only identified by the pseudonym KP, was found wrapped in a blanket on the top shelf of a freezer in a Corowa home in February 2022, after police were called to do a welfare check. He had been living in a granny flat on his maternal grandparents’ property with his mother.
NSW deputy coroner Magistrate Kasey Pearce said there were several “missed opportunities” between the mother and support services but suggested it had no impact on preventing the tragedy.
The mother was referred to the Safe Start Program in Albury, a NSW Health program for families who are at risk of adverse outcomes in the perinatal period, which is the time from conception to the first year after a baby is born.
NSW Government child protection authority the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), better known by its former acronym DOCS, also became involved after cannabis was detected in KP’s urine, but failed to discuss the mother’s drug use with his grandparents, who were his safety resources.
“Nothing in my comments should be taken to indicate criticism of any individual involved in the care of KP or his mother,” Magistrate Pearce said.
“On the contrary, I was impressed with the care and professionalism of all who dealt with KP and his family.”
The inquest revealed sudden unexplained death in infancy (SUDI), suffocation, drowning and malnutrition as potential causes of death, but there wasn’t enough evidence to support any of these causes.
Leading up to the tragedy, the mother had been missing home visits from Child and Family Health Nurse (CFHN) Bernice Nardino and DCJ caseworkers.
Miss Nardino told a caseworker, DCJ practitioner F, that “something is not right” after the mother failed to answer the door or her phone when she tried to do another home visit on 17 January 2022, two days before KP was found dead.
At that point, the grandparents had not seen the mother or KP for days.
The mother also refused to reveal KP’s whereabouts when asked, claiming that she left her son in the care of someone nicknamed “Only” in Albury as he was sick.
Police were unable to find any information or evidence that “Only” existed.
Following police interviews over a three-day period, it was suggested the mother had a mental health or cognitive issue.
Magistrate Pearce said it was “inherently implausible” for KP to have been in someone else’s care.
“There is also inconsistency in the way she described those events to police,” she said. “I am unable to accept that the events described by the mother occurred.
“Unfortunately, the result is that there is no evidence as to what occurred in the days leading up to KP’s death.”
The inquest did not find enough evidence to lay any charges over KP’s death.
Magistrate Pearce recommended Albury Wodonga Health and Murrumbidgee Local Health District work together and formalise the administration and governance of the Safe Start Program, which was received.
Original Article published by Erin Hee on Region Riverina.
