THE body of 18-month-old Dequan Harris of 159 D Field, Sophia was found floating in a trench in front of his home yesterday afternoon. He had allegedly been left unattended in bed by his mother, Juneann Harris, as she went to collect her other children at a school in another part of Sophia.

Neighbours told this publication that the woman related she had left the child at home alone since she had earlier informed her brother that she was going to pick up two of her other children at the school they attend while he was said to be making his way to the house.

Ms Harris had also reportedly left the door open to facilitate her brother gaining entry into the house; but, unfortunately, the child apparently crept out of the home and, while attempting to negotiate a small plank which served as a bridge, fell into the trench and drowned.
One woman said that when Ms Harris’s brother arrived at the house, contrary to what his sister had told him, he did not see his nephew in the house. He apparently concluded that she might have changed her mind and had taken the infant with her.

He stayed for some time at the house, and then left. But when Ms Harris returned home, she found her infant floating in the trench and raised an alarm by screaming.

Persons said the only possible explanation to suggest why the man did not see the child upon his arrival home was that when he arrived the child had already exited the house and was already underneath the water.
They also said that when he left, the child might have still been under the water, and floated up sometime after, thus becoming visible for Ms Harris to see as she entered the yard.

The incident elicited reactions of rebuke and sympathy for Ms Harris, with some saying she should have informed them that she was leaving the child alone in the house, and others saying she worked very hard to maintain her six children and was not a mother who neglected her children.

Persons in the area explained that Ms Harris would try her best to provide for her children. The father of the dead child reportedly left for the interior on Tuesday, and is said to be travelling back to the city to deal with the situation.

The father of the other children is said to be living with someone else one street away from Ms Harris.

Ms Harris reportedly has a slight mobility impairment, which is due to an alignment of sorts, and the return walk from her home to the school her children attends in A Field, Sophia takes her almost one and a half hours.