Probe into death of Garden City baby

Nassau homicide detectives are investigating the death of a Garden City baby boy brought to Winthrop-University Hospital and declared dead Friday, county police said.

The mother took her 6-month-old baby Thursday to the Mineola hospital for an unknown illness, police said. The boy was pronounced dead at the Mineola hospital at 2:06 a.m. Friday, police said.

The cause of death is to be determined by the medical examiner, police said.

Garden City Village police were notified and called to the hospital at 11 p.m. Thursday but left after the boy died in the early morning hours, when the case was turned over to county police, said village police Lt. Gerard Kneisel, who was at the hospital.

"Right from the beginning, the child was in the care of doctors," Kneisel said. "My understanding is he was in surgery the whole time."

He said he did not know the nature of the baby's injuries or what had happened.

John Broder, a spokesman for Winthrop Hospital said, he could not release details about the boy's case without the parents' permission.

"The investigation relates to an incident that occurred outside the hospital," Broder said. "In fact, it was the hospital staff that notified Nassau police."

A county police spokesman said no other details were available.