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The manner of death in the 2 1/2-year-old who was found dead Thursday in a bathtub has been ruled a homicide by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office. The toddler was identified as Koralynn Fister of Centralia. Drowning and blunt head trauma were the cause of death. The mother’s boyfriend has been arrested for alleged first-degree murder.
At 3 p.m. Thursday Riverside Fire Authority personnel and Centralia police responded to a call of a child not breathing. They arrived at the residence to find a man performing CPR on the toddler. The man was identified as James M. Reeder, 25, Centralia, and as the boyfriend of the child’s mother, who was not home at the time.
Reeder told police he was bathing the child and left the room to retrieve a towel and returned to find her facedown in the bathtub.
“His statements were inconsistent with the injuries on the child,” said Centralia Detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald.
The child showed injuries that indicated recent as well as prolonged abuse, said Fitzgerald.
The child was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital by responding paramedics where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Reeder was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on first-degree murder charges later Thursday night. He is expected to make a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.
