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Family Services investigating death of 13-year-old girl on Jan. 1
The Clark County Department of Family Services is investigating the death of a 13-year-old girl found unresponsive New Year’s Day.
The girl was found “at a local family residence” on Jan. 1 and taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to a report from the county agency posted to the state Division of Child and Family Services’ website. The girl was pronounced dead at the hospital, the report states.
The county agency opened a case “for investigation and family assessment,” according to the report, which does not list the address where the girl was found unresponsive. The agency received two reports regarding the girl or her family in 2012, but neither rose to the level of an investigation, according to the report.
The same day the girl died, Las Vegas police were called to a home at 59 Panorama Crest Ave. in the Ridges after fire officials requested help for an unresponsive juvenile, according to dispatch logs and Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Aden OcampoGomez.
OcampoGomez said abuse and neglect detectives are aware of the case but are waiting for the results of an autopsy by the Clark County coroner’s office before determining whether there will be an investigation. He did not provide specific information about the circumstances of the death but did confirm that it was “an alcohol-related incident.”
Police spokesman Misael Parra said Friday that he could not confirm whether the Department of Family and Services report was referencing the same death because it isn’t a Metro document.
However, Division of Child and Family Services’ social services chief Karla Delgado said Friday that no other juvenile deaths on Jan. 1 were reported to the agency.
Property and business records show that the home is owned by Eva Littman, a prominent fertility doctor in Las Vegas. Littman unsuccessfully ran in the Assembly District 2 Democratic primary last year.
She has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Attempts by the Review-Journal to reach Littman have been unsuccessful.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Clark County coroner’s office, which is closed Fridays, had not identified the person who died at the home or released the cause and manner of death in the case.
In a Saturday email to parents, Roxanne Stansbury, head of the private Alexander Dawson School, said an eighth grader, Aumnie Halper, had died in “a tragic alcohol-related incident.” The email, obtained by the Review-Journal, described Halper as “a vivacious, bright, and joyful” member of the school community.
The Review-Journal could not confirm whether Halper died at the home owned by Littman. On the school’s Facebook page, a post says Halper died Jan. 1. The post does not mention alcohol.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Blake Apgar contributed to this report.