By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FREEPORT – Criminal charges could be filed soon in the case of a two-year-old toddler who was found dead while in the care of his father on Monday.

Police are still holding David Stuart in custody. Authorities picked up the father for questioning after the child was found unresponsive on Monday evening at a residence in the Magellan Crest area.

Emrick Seymour, Assistant Commissioner of Police on Grand Bahama, said that the autopsy into the death of little Peter Emmanuel Higgs is completed.

“We are now waiting on the doctor’s report, after that we will make further statements,” said ACP Seymour on Thursday.

When asked whether charges would be filed in the matter, The Tribune was told that it was possible.

According to reliable sources, the toddler had sustained severe injuries to the body, particularly in the buttocks area.

The toddler’s family is devastated over the child’s death. The young mother is said to be very distraught.

The Tribune had initially reported that the mother was 15, but has since learned that she is about 18 or 19 years old.

According to a report on ZNS, the grandmother, Rochelle Higgs, said that little Peter was first introduced to the father a few months ago.

“One day he came to pick him up and Peter did not want to go, and that became a concern of mine. And so I sat with Peter… and I said give me some time with him. And I said ‘Pa,’ ‘why don’t you want to go with your Dad,’ but he just kept saying he did not want to go. So I said you know what …and eventually he went.”

According to reports, the toddler was with the father around 4:45pm when police and EMS personnel were called for assistance at House No 39 Magellan Crest.

The toddler was found unresponsive and taken to Rand Memorial Hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead around 5:30pm.