Autopsy results of Perry County boy will take several weeks

Autopsy results on a Perry County boy who died in a St. Louis hospital won't be ready for several weeks, a medical investigator said Friday.

Ethan Patrick Williams, 4, of rural Perry County, died early Thurdsay morning at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, said Rose Psara, chief investigator with the city of St. Louis medical examiner's office.

Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said he is also investigating the death but is awaiting autopsy results.

The decision on whether there is any criminal liability for the boy's death will be made at that time. "We want to see the autopsy before we bring charges," he said.

Tara Brace, fiancee of the boy's father, Danny Wayne Williams Jr., said Thursday that Ethan had been at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital for about three weeks, battling a severe staph infection in his lungs.

Psara wouldn't comment on that diagnosis. While staph is "certainly a possibility," she said, "we really need to look into everything. We need to get to the bottom of it."

Ethan was in the custody of his mother, Emily Altom, Brace said.

Altom could not be reached for comment.

Staph infections come from bacteria that typically enter the body through the skin or mucous membranes, according to the Internet site WebMD.

Ethan, and his brother Holton, 6, were taken into the custody of the state Department of Social Services Children's Division, Brace said. Holton was treated at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau for treatment of a staph infection in a sore on his leg, Brace said.

The division could not confirm Friday whether it had taken custody of the boys, said Deborah Scott of the division's Jefferson City office. State law prevents the agency from disclosing who its clients are, she said.

Under Missouri law, deaths of anyone under 18 are investigated by a county Child Fatality Review Panel. Those panels look at deaths of children in the custody of the state or when there is a question about delays in seeking medical treatment, among other reasons.

In the case of Ethan Williams, if such a panel is convened it would meet in Perry County under the direction of Coroner Herb Miller, Psara said. The panel meets in the county where the incident leading to death originated, she said.

Miller could not be reached for comment Friday.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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