A mother was found dead near an SUV as her toddler slept inside, Florida officials said.
Now, the Tampa Police Department has launched a homicide investigation into the woman's death.
"This is a complete tragedy," Crystal Clark, a police spokesperson, told WTVT. "We have a child under the age of 2 who is going to grow up without a mother."
Police were called Jan. 30 after someone walking in the New Tampa area saw a person lying on the ground, WFTS reported. The discovery was reported at about 10 p.m. on Pictoral Park Drive, inside the Easton Park subdivision.
"Officers arrived to find a sleeping male toddler seated in a car seat in the back of a Ford EcoSport SUV and his mother, an adult woman in her 20s, deceased next to the vehicle with upper body trauma," police wrote in a news release.
The young boy wasn't hurt, and a relative is taking care of him.
"Homicide detectives are actively investigating the incident and speaking with neighbors," police wrote. "The deceased does not appear to reside in the neighborhood."
Officers in an email to McClatchy News said they're trying to determine how the woman died. She wasn't identified in a news release.
Tampa police ask anyone with information to call 813-231-6130 or use the TIP411 tool on the department's smartphone application.
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