AUBURN, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) - Investigators are trying to determine how one foster child died and another was critically injured at an Auburn apartment on Saturday, just a few days after a DCF inspection.
Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis said in a press conference Sunday that the toddlers were found inside the apartment, near the front door of 2 Pheasant Ct., which is part of a public housing complex. The little girls had been in the care of their foster mother, who called 911 shortly after noon on Saturday, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early, Jr., said.
"Lifesaving measures were employed on both little girls, but one of them was not breathing," Early said. "One girl was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the hospital. The other girl, who was found unconscious at the scene, was admitted and is currently being treated in the intensive care unit."
The young girl who did not make it was identified as 2-year-old Ava Conway-Coxon. An air quality test came back negative and an autopsy has been completed, but the exact cause of her death has yet to be determined.
>>READ MORE: Biological mother says she was going to get custody back before daughter died in Auburn home.
DCF said a third foster child, a 6-month-old, was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Four other children - one foster child and three biological children - were removed from the home, Early said, showing no signs of abuse.
"The investigation is still evolving at this point," Early said. "There are many questions that remain to be answered, and I'm limited in what I can tell you at this point."
Neighbors told FOX25 they saw the foster mother panicking as the ambulance arrived.
"She was crying. She was totally beside herself," Lori Suprenant, a neighbor, said. "She just kept saying, 'My babies! My babies!'"
The foster mother is cooperating with investigators, and police say this is not the first time they've dealt with her.
"We're very familiar," Sluckis said, "but to what extent, I'm not going to get into that."
Neighbors identify the foster mom as Kim Malpass. We learned police were called to her current home nearly 30 times since 2008 when she moved in and more than 60 times in all to the three homes she's had at a public complex since 2005. FOX25 obtained court records showing that the man neighbors know as her boyfriend had a history of criminal convictions with charges dating back to 1999. Records we obtained show AJ Mallett is currently awaiting a hearing for a robbery, after Malpass posted his bail. Neighbors say they frequently saw him at her foster home.
Some neighbors defended Malpass, who they say has lived in the complex for years. According to DCF she has been a licensed foster caregiver since 2014 and has had 6 additional foster children in her care during that time.
"She's a great mom," Suprenant said. "She would do anything for her kids."
Malpass has not been charged and neighbors say she hasn't been back home since Saturday. As for Ava's biological mother, Jessica Conway, she says she's in shock over what happened.
"Think right now I'm just in shock, I don't understand there's a lot of unanswered questions, these are lives we are talking about these are children's lives we are talking about and it happens to be my child and now she's gone," Conway said.
Conway lost custody of the child due to drug problems and DCF has been working with the child ever since.
A DCF spokesperson said, "There were 10 total DCF workers working with the family, seven were licensed and three were not. Of the three not licensed, one is retiring, and the other two are slated to take exams to become licensed."
Neighbors set up a makeshift memorial to honor the deceased child and pray for the hospitalized girl. No one has been charged in connection with her death and the investigation into this case remains ongoing.