Baby Asphyxiated in High Chair

An 11-month-old boy died of asphyxiation Wednesday when he tried to crawl out of his high chair and got his head wedged between the seat and the serving tray, authorities said.

Christian Carlson died at 12:40 p.m. at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, said James Baroni, a deputy coroner.

Authorities are investigating the incident after talking with emergency room doctors and interviewing the boy’s mother at the hospital, said Port Hueneme Police Cmdr. Jerry Beck.

“Whether it’s suspicious or not, it’s the death of a small child, and we are going to look at the death of any small child,” Beck said. He would not specify what prompted the investigation.

Detectives searched a condominium in the 200 block of South Ventura Road where Carlson lived with his mother, Beck said.

Officers interviewed several neighbors and seized the boy’s high chair and some other items from the residence, witnesses said.

According to authorities, the boy was in his high chair in the dining room when he tried to crawl out. His mother was home at the time, but not in the same room with her son when he got stuck, authorities said.

The mother, whom authorities would not identify, ran from her home screaming for help after finding her son, who was not breathing, Baroni said. A neighbor called 911.