Sudden death of child in Rānui, West Auckland: Second infant death at home in two years, cordons remain

West Auckland police are continuing their investigation into yesterday’s unexplained death of a baby - the second infant death at the property in the past two years.

Residents on a semi-rural Rānui road heard screaming coming from a house yesterday morning.

A police spokesperson this afternoon said a post-mortem had been completed, and officers were investigating on behalf of the coroner.

“Following the completion of a post-mortem examination today, we can advise police are now making inquiries into the death of an infant in Rānui on Tuesday 18 June on behalf of the coroner,” a spokesperson said.

“Police are still awaiting results of a post-mortem examination as part of our inquiries.”

A coroner’s report from 2023 showed another baby, aged 4 months, died in April 2022 at the same Simpson Rd house.

The report said the baby died from sudden unexpected death in infancy (Sudi) associated with unsafe sleep.

“Post-mortem toxicology also identified that [the baby] had been exposed to methamphetamine,” the report read.

It also said the baby’s mother smoked up to 20 cigarettes a day during and after pregnancy, a factor in the baby’s death.

Police at the home on Simpson Rd, Rānui, where police are investigating an unexplained death of a child. Photo / Ben Dickens

Emergency services responded to a report of the most recent death about 7.50am on Tuesday.

Police were treating the death as unexplained as of midday on Tuesday, and remained at the scene overnight through to Wednesday morning.

A woman living next door told the Herald her son heard screaming from nearby yesterday morning. He ran to alert his mother, and the pair went outside to investigate. She said the screaming stopped, but she could hear a car running.

The neighbour said she often heard a woman “screaming” at children and arguing at the home.

She said two parents live there along with a young boy but was unsure who else resided at the property.

Forensic investigators on the scene at a home where a child died in unexplained circumstances yesterday. Photo / Ben Dickens.

A cordon remained at the scene this morning, with two cars parked outside the residence. Forensic investigators were also at the home.

A spokesperson said neighbours could expect to see an “increased police presence” in the area.

“At this stage, the circumstances around the death are being treated as unexplained and police are making inquiries into the circumstances.”

A man who lives at the address had taken the day off work yesterday, his employer said.

“He called me this morning, around 8.15, to tell me he cannot come into work today because his child was dead,” the director of contracting company Pure Aotearoa International Ltd said.

Police at the scene following the death of a child on Simpson Rd, Rānui. Photo / Hayden Woodward