Baby girl dies in Upstate NY after Amber Alert; criminal investigation underway

A criminal investigation is underway after a baby girl’s death in Upstate New York.

Police said Halo Branton, who would have been 11 months old on Thursday, was pronounced dead Sunday at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady. A source close to the investigation told the Times Union that she was found in a shed on the General Electric campus in the city located about 15 miles outside of Albany. First responders rushed the girl to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police spokesman Lt. Ryan Macherone said a criminal investigation is now underway. No arrests have been made.

“It started as a missing persons case and right now it’s being treated as a criminal case, but to quantify what the charges are would be too early at this point,” Macherone told media Sunday.

According to the New York Daily News, an Amber Alert was issued Sunday morning for Halo, who was last seen Saturday night wearing a light pink shirt and white sweatpants with flowers on them, plus a Minnie Mouse blanket. The Amber Alert was called off less than three hours later.

New York State Police initially said on social media that Halo had been found “safe and in good health” but later edited their posts to simply say she had been “located.”

Some reports referred to the case as a kidnapping. According to the Times Union, during the search for Halo, police asked people on Campbell Avenue to look at camera surveillance footage to see if any video showed a woman in dark clothing carrying what appeared to be a baby wrapped in a blanket.

Macherone did not respond to questions about the girl’s parents or caretakers. He also did not know who had last seen the child or if she was from Schenectady.

“We’re interviewing multiple people,” he said. “We asked for the public’s assistance, and we have received it.”