A 3-Year-Old Boy Died in a Police Station Following a Car Crash — His Father Has Since Been Charged By Toria Sheffield

An investigation is underway after a 3-year-old boy died at a police station in Australia.

Police responded to a report of a traffic accident in Queensland on Saturday, Oct. 25, shortly before 5 a.m. local time, according to a press release issued by Queensland Police. Upon their initial investigation, they learned that a witness to the crash had assisted a 22-year-old woman and her young child — who was later identified as 3-year-old Caden Case — and took the pair to the nearby Beenleigh Police Station.

Authorities said that “a short time later,” Caden became unresponsive while at the station. Police performed CPR on the child, but he died on the scene, per the release.

Police additionally stated that a 24-year-old man and a 1-year-old child had also been in the car at the time of the crash, but that the man took the younger child and fled the scene before authorities arrived.

In a press conference held later that day, Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Mooney said that Caden “was in a bad medical way prior to [his] arrival at the station,” and that the boy’s mother had called emergency services prior to their arrival, per The Courier Mail.

He further said that Caden had sustained head injuries as a result of the crash.

Mooney went on to say that the man involved in the crash — who is believed to be the driver — was picked up by authorities at a home in the area later that morning. He also said that the man and woman involved were the parents of both children, though he noted that they are currently separated. 

The man has since been charged with breaching a domestic violence order and will appear in court on Monday, Oct. 27, according to Mooney, per The Courier Mail.

The circumstances of the crash are still being investigated, and both parents are cooperating with police, per the outlet.

On the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 25, Health Minister Tim Nicholls praised the responders on the scene at the police station at the time of Caden’s death, calling them “unsung” heroes.

“[The news] I have received this morning from the Queensland Ambulance Service … is that it was quite a horrific circumstance they were presented with at the Beenleigh Police Station. I also want to thank our first responders, who are often the unsung and forgotten heroes in these tragic circumstances,” he told reporters, per the Australian Broadcasting Company.

A GoFundMe has since been established by Brittney Moffitt, the cousin of the woman involved in the crash.

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“My cousin has tragically lost her 3-year-old son in a car accident due to domestic violence,” Moffitt wrote on the fundraising page, calling the incident “a mother’s worst nightmare.”

“All our hearts are breaking [and], I want to take a little pressure off her by asking for everyone’s help to raise some money for [her] son’s funeral,” she continued, adding that “no mother should have to bury their baby, let alone have the stress of worrying about paying for it.”

As of Sunday, Oct. 26, the GoFundMe has raised $2,100 toward an ultimate goal of $5,865.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.