4-Year-Old Dies A Week After Brother In Mesa County Case
MESA COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – The 4-year-old boy who became ill in his family SUV when it was parked but running near Powderhorn ski area last week has died, one week after his brother.
Doctors determined Tyler Jensen was suffering from liver and kidney failure after the Nov. 27 incident, which authorities have released very few details about.
He was airlifted to Children's Hospital in Denver and his younger brother William, 2, died at the scene. Tyler's body will be returned to Mesa County for the autopsy.
Their mother, Heather Jensen, of Palisade, called 911 after she allegedly admitted to police that she left the boys alone in the vehicle just off Highway 65 for 90 minutes while she met a man in his truck.
Autopsy results on William have not been released. Mesa County Sheriff's officials will only say they are referring to the case as a death investigation. There is no word so far on if there will be any charges.
The Grand Junction Sentinel reported that a resident doctor at The Children's Hospital, where Tyler was taken, told investigators she did not believe he suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. The paper obtained some documents before they were sealed, including an affidavit in which an investigator wrote there was probable cause to believe the crime of child abuse resulting in death had been committed, according to the paper's reporting.
"The police and the district attorneys are going to wait until they have all of the facts -- toxicology results from the autopsy, a full investigation of how these children died, who might have been the one who caused their death, and a determination as to who should be charged and what the appropriate charges are before they make that decision," CBS4 Legal Analyst Karen Steinhauser said.
"It remains very worked, very active every day. A number of investigators are working on this case," Heather Benjamin with the Mesa County Sheriff's Department told CBS4.
Jensen posted photos of the boys on her Facebook page hours after making the 911 call, saying "I miss my boys."
