'No signs of trauma' in death of Toledo boy

Authorities believe they have ruled out foul play in the death of an 8-month-old boy taking place in the Toledo area March 4.

The death of Jayden A. Leech, as he was later identified by the Lewis County Coroner's Office, had been the subject of an investigation by the Lewis County Sheriff's Office after aid was called around 8:30 p.m. to the 200 block of Foster Creek Rd., south of Toledo, to reports Leech had stopped breathing.

"When deputies arrived, they learned that the father had found the baby not breathing in his crib," stated Chief Deputy Stacy Brown in a statement released March 5, stating the father then called 911 and EMS personnel responded and began performing CPR, "however, the CPR efforts were unsuccessful."

Brown said there had been no indications at the time that Leech had died as a result of homicide and said her office was depending upon the results of an autopsy to determine if they were to investigate further.

On March 6, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod released a statement confirming homicide was not likely to be the cause of death, noting an exact cause will not be determined for another three or four months as his office awaits further test results.

"There were no signs of trauma or anything suspicious found during the autopsy," stated McLeod.

Authorities had also investigated the death of another local child, 3-year-old Jasper Henderling-Warner, last October after aid was called to reports he had stopped breathing at his caretaker's house in Vader. However, Henderling-Warner's remains showed readily apparent signs of chronic abuse, according to authorities, and his caretakers, Brenda and Danny Wing, have since been charged with homicide by abuse.