Cypress Police Question Relatives in Death of 2-Year-Old

The parents and relatives of a 2-year-old girl who died under suspicious circumstances were questioned by Cypress police Friday, but investigators said it could be several more days before the cause of death is known.

Cypress Police Lt. Joe Satterfield, who is leading the investigation, said the questioning was centering on exactly what happened in the small apartment on Newman Street in Cypress that led to the child’s death.

The girl, Belinda M. Youmans, had been staying with her aunt, uncle and three cousins when she was fatally injured Wednesday afternoon.

She was found unconscious with head and body injuries and died Thursday at Memorial Medical Center of Long Beach.

Police said that they do not know who found the unconscious child but that either the aunt or uncle telephoned paramedics.

When the emergency call came in, Satterfield said, paramedics were told that the child had fallen down a 15-step staircase inside the two-story apartment.

Satterfield said the child had extensive bruises on her legs and upper body, but he would not elaborate on her injuries. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office planned an autopsy for this weekend.

The death occurred in the home of Lilly Youmans, 31, and Harry Youmans, 29, the brother of Belinda’s father.

Satterfield said Belinda’s parents, Larry Youmans, 31, and Georgia Youmans, 29, live in Las Vegas and had dropped their daughter off at her aunt and uncle’s home for a visit about a month ago.

Satterfield said it has not been determined where her parents were when she died, nor was it was clear why they left her there so long.

“I suppose she was just visiting her cousins,” Satterfield said. “What we know is that the parents were not present. We’re looking at a lot of things: where the family has lived, their friends. We’re talking to a lot of people.”

Following a determination by officers that child abuse may have been involved in Belinda’s death, Satterfield said, the three sons of Lilly and Harry Youmans--ages 3, 6 and 8--were placed in protective custody at Orangewood, the county’s emergency shelter for abused or abandoned children in Orange.

“We just don’t know much more until the autopsy comes out,” Satterfield said. “We are talking to everyone extensively, checking the background, following up on things.

“We’re not going to see charges today.”