2-year-old child found dead in garbage container in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (FOX5) – Las Vegas police are investigating after a dead child was found in a dumpster near downtown Las Vegas Thursday night.

According to a preliminary report, officers responded to the 400 block of South 15th Street at around 8:25 p.m. where a two-year-old child was missing. Officers on scene immediately began searching for the child.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on June 7, the missing two-year-old child was found in a dumpster in the 1300 block of Lewis Avenue. Paramedics arrived and pronounced the child dead at the scene.

The LVMPD Homicide Unit was notified and took over the investigation. Investigators determined that the two-year-old’s mother, 23-year-old Diaja Smith, was the suspect in the case. Smith was arrested and is being booked into the Clark County Detention Center on murder and other offenses.

The identity of the deceased and the cause and manner of death will be released by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the LVMPD Homicide Unit by phone at 702-828-3521 or by email at [email protected]. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555 or online at www.crimestoppersofnv.com.

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