Mother, 16, arrested in boy's death

A 16-year-old mother in Worcester has been charged with suffocating her baby boy with a teddy bear on Sunday morning, police said.

The 1-year-old was found at the family's home on Henderson Avenue at 11:15 a.m. after a relative called 911 for the child, who was not breathing, police said. He was in respiratory and cardiac arrest. Police performed CPR before emergency personnel arrived and started advanced cardiac life support.

The child was taken to St. Vincent Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour after the initial call, police said. A Worcester police official involved with the case, who asked for anonymity, identified the child by his first name, Khyle.

The teenage mother was arrested and charged with murder after being interviewed by police. Police allege she smothered the baby, who had recently celebrated his birthday, with a teddy bear in a fit of frustration because he was ill, the official said last night.

"She's still a kid," he said.

The death, the first alleged homicide of a child in Worcester this year, is being investigated by Worcester police. The mother is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Central District Court.

An autopsy was conducted on the child yesterday morning at UMass Memorial Medical Center; results are pending. The child showed swelling of the eyes, an indication of strangulation, according to the police official.

The mother's name is not being released because she is a minor, and police said they are not sure whether she will be charged as an adult. The child's father was not there at the time of the boy's death, the official said.

Milton J. Valencia of the Globe staff contributed to this report.