Apr 17, 2009 3:10 pm US/Eastern
Police Identify 7-Year-Old Found Hanged
Boy Was In Foster Care At A Home In The 6500 block of NW 9th Street
MARGATE (CBS4) ―
-
-
A 7-year-old boy died on April 16 at the home seen here.
CBS
Margate police have identified the 7-year-old foster child who was found hanging in a Margate home. Authorities say the child was named Gabriel Myers.
Margate police released more details about the death of Myers who was in foster care in a home in the 6500 block of NW 9th Street. The boy was found in a bathroom and there was a window blind involved, but Margate police are not saying if the death was a suicide or an accidental hanging.
Police were called to the home around 1:37 pm Thursday. Paramedics rushed the child to Northwest Medical Center where he died at 2:45 pm.
"He's been with (the family) for a little bit," said Officer Vonley Williams. "He's been with them for about 3 weeks."
Detectives and child welfare investigators spent hours at the home Thursday. Neither police nor child welfare investigators could tell
CBS4 about the child's time in foster care.
Neighbors told
CBS4's Carey Codd the family has two children living in the home. Both boys were seen in the neighborhood often, playing football, riding their bikes or riding skateboards. Neighbor Wayne Bernstein said he didn't see the 7-year-old often but when he did the child was in good spirits.
"He was happy, playing around," Bernstein said. "We can hear -- usually there's a number of children over there playing in the pool."
Childnet, the agency in charge of child welfare in Broward County, is investigating the death. A spokesperson told
CBS4 they are reviewing the child's history with the agency.
"This is such a tragic, tragic event," said Sasheika Eugent, Childnet's Community and Public Relations Specialist." We're deeply saddened. We launched this internal investigation to determine that we took the appropriate steps to ensure the child's safety."
Childnet could not tell us if they removed any children from the home after the boy died.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Presidential Inauguration 2009
Click to enlarge
I-Team: Tracking The Florida Stimulus Money Trail 
Stumble It!
