The Salem Police Department has ended 2020 with two open cases that could lead to homicide charges.
Salem Police Chief Sean Reynolds says one death involves an infant and the other started as an Emergency Medical Service call where information surfaced that the death may not have been accidental or from natural causes.
Reynolds says the infant died later at a St. Louis hospital and the department is awaiting autopsy information that could provide more information on the cause of death. The Marion County Child Death Task Force that includes two Salem Police Detectives has been activated to investigate the death. Once all of the information is obtained, it will be turned over to Marion County State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth for a charging decision.
The other case that started with an EMS call is waiting for the return of lab results to determine if the death was a homicide. At that point, reports could also be sent to the State’s Attorney for a charging decision.
Both deaths occurred in the final two months of the year.
