ORANGE COUNTY, Texas — The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and child protective services are investigating the death of a toddler that happened earlier this week.
A preliminary autopsy report obtained by 12News showed the initial cause of death of the child as “manual suffocation in a setting of child abuse.”
CPS tells 12News the child is 18 months old.
The report also listed the preliminary cause of death as “homicide” and identifies the boy as Raydyn Jones.
The autopsy was performed Tuesday afternoon in Beaumont.
A Facebook fundraiser has been started to help cover funeral costs for the child. The fundraiser was started by a man who says he's friends Raydyn's father. The fundraiser says he is "asking family and friends to help a dear friend of mine Casey Jones to come up with expenses to bury his son."
Investigators with the sheriff’s office are investigating the death of the 18-month-old boy with assistance from CPS according to CPS spokesperson Shari Pulliam.
A child was previously removed from the mother and no other children were in the home at the time according to Pulliam. She told 12News that child's adoption is in the process of being finalized.
The mother was at home with the child overnight at a residence in north Orange County near Mauriceville according to the sheriff’s office.
The child was not currently under the care of a doctor the sheriff’s office said.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.