Police Call Death Of 4-Year-Old Coral Springs Boy "Suspicious"
CORAL SPRINGS (CBS4) - Investigators are trying to determine how a 4-year-old boy apparently died inside his Coral Springs apartment Monday morning.
It was a somber scene at the apartment complex at 9022 N.W. 28th Drive where neighbors stared in silence as the body of Antwon Hope was taken from the scene.
Hope's relatives were overwhelmed by grief when they came to the complex and were told what happened by police.
The boys' father, identified by family also as Antwon Hope, wept and screamed, "No! No! No!"
The boys' great-aunt, Brenda Muse, said the child had just graduated from preschool.
"He's a sweet boy," she said. "A sweet little boy. Very smart, intelligent young man."
The child's great-grandmother, Elverna Moore, said the family is devastated.
"It just hurts so bad," she said. "It hurts me so bad. I'm so close to my grands and great grands. I never thought anything like this would happen."
With tears in her eyes, a woman who identified herself as Suzanna said. "It's my neighbor. He was a baby and he was friendly. I am upset because I used to play with him. It's terrible. He's a boy."
Police are calling this a "suspicious death." They could not say how the boy died and it was expected that an autopsy would be performed by the Broward Medical Examiner's Office.
"Officers received a 911 hang up call and they went to the scene and discovered a 4-year-old male in the residence," said Coral Springs Police Sgt. Carla Kmiotek.
"It is suspicious and this is why we needed the Medical Examiner to come out," Kmiotek told CBS4's Peter D'Oench.
Kmiotek urged anyone with information to call Coral Springs Police detectives at (954) 346-1215 or Broward Crimestoppers at (954) 493-TIPS (8477).
"I am very sad and I am nervous," said Olga Bermudez, the manager of the apartment complex. "She was my tenant."
Another neighbor, Victor Jackson, said, "I am very shocked. I can't believe what happened when I came home and saw this."
"On Saturday night when I saw the mother, she seemed very sad. She seemed like she was depressed," said Jackson.
Police have identified the mother as 23-year-old Destene Simmons. She was taken away for questioning and police said she was released Monday evening.
The Department of Children and Families tells CBS4 News that they do have a history with the family, but did not elaborate on what they have been contacted for.
