The Sheriff's Department was investigating the death of an East Bakersfiled toddler as suspicious Sunday.
Giovanni Ethan Quiroz, 3, lived with his family in an apartment on Crawford Street. Neighbors said the child's family just moved in about a week ago.
"We only talked to them like two times, but they're nice people," neighbor Anita Chavez said.
Sheriff's deputies were called to the apartment in East Bakersfield. When they arrived, they say they found Quiroz not breathing. The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
"I cried because it's a little boy you know," Chavez said.
Neighbors said the toddler's mother lived with her boyfriend and her other child, a 9-month old baby. Investigators wouldn't say if there were signs of trauma to the toddler's body.
"Normal protocol when a child dies outside some existing medical conditions, we initiate a sheriff's detectives call and go out," Commander Tyson Davis with the Kern County Sheriff's Department said. "Sheriff's detectives responded and began investigating this as a suspicious death."
Detectives said they questioned family members, but don't have any suspects or person's of interest.
This is the second time in one week a local toddler has died under what deputies call suspicious circumstances.
Deputies said 3-year-old Trinity Hanna from Taft was tortured to death by her mother's live-in boyfriend, Eric Foster. Foster pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and child abuse and torture. Hanna died at San Joaquin Hospital Tuesday night.
Now the uncertainty of the death of 3-year old Giovanni Ethan Quiroz leaves neighbors wondering what happened.
"I still want to know what happened," Chavez said. "They're really good people."
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday to determine what caused the child's death.
