Local News in Brief : Cypress : Child Abuse Suspected in Death of 2-Year-Old

A 2-year-old Cypress girl died Thursday from injuries police believe were the result of child abuse, authorities said.

Belinda M. Youmans was pronounced dead at 11:55 a.m. Thursday at Memorial Medical Center of Long Beach, where she had been taken Wednesday, Cypress Police Lt. John Schaefer said.

Police were called to the 5600 block of Newman Avenue about 3 p.m. Wednesday to investigate reports that a child had been injured, Schaefer said. The child was found unconscious and suffering from head and body trauma.

“The child exhibited signs of having suffered physical injury and abuse,” he said. “The child reportedly sustained injuries in a fall. However, the injuries are not consistent with a fall.”

Police are investigating the death as a murder, Schaefer said. He added that investigators have suspects in the case but that no one was in custody Thursday.

The child’s parents, Larry and Georgia Youmans, were out of town on vacation when the incident occurred, he said. The 2-year-old and her three brothers--ages 3, 6, and 8--were being watched by their aunt and uncle in the Youmans’ home.

Schaefer said the three boys have been placed in protective custody at Orangewood, the county’s emergency shelter for abused or abandoned children in Orange.