Toddler found alone with dead mom

ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A 3-year-old girl may have spent up to three days with the body of her dead mother before being discovered by a neighbor, St. Paul, Minn., police said.

Authorities said foul play was not suspected in the death of Shanta Hamiel. The 22-year-old mother was seven months pregnant and had been vomiting blood for several weeks, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Thursday.

An autopsy revealed Hamiel died of natural causes but police said tests would be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Amanda Hammett, the neighbor, said the child, Tramia Robinson, apparently was unaware her mother was dead, the newspaper said. She said the child ate cold chicken and greens when hungry.

Hammett said Tramia's mother had told the girl to "get Amanda" because her stomach hurt, but the child never left the apartment because "she was scared"

The neighbor last saw Hamiel Saturday. Hammett said she and Hamiel's boyfriend knocked on the door Sunday and Monday, but no one answered.

On Tuesday, Hammett knocked on the door and then tried the doorknob, finding it unlocked. She cracked opened the door, called out and the child ran to her, the newspaper said.