Howard County Police: 3-year-old’s Mother Not Cooperating with Homicide Investigation

Howard County Police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in what police said is the asphyxiation death of a 3-year-old from Columbia.

In a press release Monday, police said three other people were in the home at the 9600 block of Basket Ring Road in Columbia the day Elijah Lajeuness was found unresponsive and not breathing--his mother, her boyfriend and an 8-year-old sibling.

Police said the mother and the boyfriend have not cooperated in the investigation. No charges have been filed.

Police also said they found no signs of forced entry.

The child’s death was officially ruled a homicide last week by the medical examiner’s office.

The child’s mother called police April 13 at about 4 a.m. and said the child wasn’t breathing, according to the release. Lajeuness was taken to Howard County Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives have conducted interviews and collected evidence in the event that the case involved foul play, according to the press release.

A former babysitter of the child told ABC News Channel 2 last week that the a male relative of the child “was very abusive with him, and they didn't have a very good relationship.”

The woman did not give her name.