Woburn toddler's death investigated as homicide, DA says

WOBURN, Mass. — The death of a 15-month-old Woburn boy last August is being investigated as a homicide, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

Noah Larson was in the care of a babysitter, a family friend, when he was found unresponsive and died at the hospital three days later.

Boston 25’s Kerry Kavanaugh spoke with Noah’s parents months after their heartbreaking loss, and they said they believed someone initially harmed their son.

“It hurts me knowing that whoever did this has as much freedom as I do, but my son is gone,” Noah’s father, Paul Larson, said last year.

Noah’s sister, Emilia, was also injured, but her parents could not elaborate further.

In the September, 2016 interview, Noah’s mother, Lindsey Keane, said it appeared as if what happened to her son was done intentionally.

"That's what it looks like as of now, yes," she said. "This was with intent, with malice, yes."

According to paperwork obtained by the Boston Globe, doctors found that both twins had old skull fractures. Noah’s sister also had healing fractures near her ribs and limbs that suggested abuse might have occurred before Noah’s deadly injury.

That case had been under investigation, which is a process that left Noah’s family frustrated. They described mailing letters and photos to the District Attorney’s Office and placing unreturned phone calls.

Boston 25 News asked Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan why the case has taken so long.

"Our obligation remains to Noah, to his family, to everybody as well as the public to make a careful assessment of what we have and the go forward thoughtfully in determining a course of action," she said.

Ryan wouldn't address the injuries or say if charges would be filed soon.

When asked if there a suspect, she replied, "We’ll be—that’s an open investigation. So we’ll be looking at all of that and we’ll be making an assessment."

After it was announced Thursday that his son’s death was ruled a homicide, Larson posted a message on Facebook that read, “Never stop fighting for what you believe in! I’ll fight for you until my last breath. I love you son!”

Cox Media Group