PORTSMOUTH
A 2-year-old boy was found dead in the 100 block of Tyler Crescent East about 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Police initially said they were responding to a call of a boy unresponsive in a car. But police spokeswoman Ann Hope later said it's unclear whether the child was found in the car or elsewhere, then moved to the car.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, in the Glensheallah neighborhood, near the Willett Hall auditorium. Two hours later, the boy's body remained in an ambulance, its engine idling near the home. The car, a green Chevrolet SUV, sat with its door open, a child's safety seat resting on the lawn nearby.
Neighbors described a chaotic scene earlier, with the distraught parents of the boy wailing on the front lawn.
"The father kept saying it was his fault, over and over," said Jeffrey Crews-Aston, who lives in the neighborhood. "From what they were saying, it was obviously some kind of accident."
Michael Jamison, who lives next door to where the boy was found, said his 2- and 6-year-old nieces play with the three children who live next door.
"It was hard to keep him in one place," Jamison said of the boy. "They would chase each other around the yard all day."
Of his niece, he said: "She won't understand it."
Minutes later, his nieces were whisked into the house, the oldest inquiring about the many police and rescue vehicles next door.
Police have not yet released the name of the victim or his parents.
John Warren, (757) 446-2309, john.warren@pilotonline.com
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