'Acid killing' mother questioned

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/west_midlands/8519436.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A woman held by police over the death of her daughter, three, is continuing to be questioned about whether acid was involved in the girl's death.

A woman in her 20s was arrested on suspicion of murder after the child's body was found at a house in Milverton Road, Erdington, on Saturday evening.

Police are investigating if a hazardous substance found at the scene caused her death or was used after she had died.

A post-mortem examination proved inconclusive.

Further forensic and toxicology tests are now due to be carried out.

If that's what they think killed her, it doesn't bear thinking about Adam Cotterill, neighbour <a class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/england/8518972.stm">Neighbours react to girl's death</a>

Detectives revealed on Tuesday a search of the house revealed a "hazardous substance", which needed specialist officers from West Midlands Fire Service to remove.

Investigators are trying to establish whether the substance was used during the death of the child.

Neighbours in the tree-lined street said detectives had been making door-to-door inquiries asking people if they kept corrosive substances at their properties.

Adam Cotterill, 18, who lives opposite the home where the girl's body was discovered, said: "Two detectives came round and asked my dad if we had any corrosive substances in the house, like acid.

"If that's what they think killed her, it doesn't bear thinking about."

'Shocked and distressed'

Ch Insp Mark Payne said: "The death of this little girl in suspicious circumstances has led to an immediate and comprehensive investigation.

"Detectives, forensic experts and local officers are working together to establish how the girl died and who is responsible.

"We are working together with the local community, who have been shocked and distressed by this death."

Neighbours described the child as a "pretty, playful little girl" who had lived at the rented property with her mother for about a year.