A man is to appear this morning before Naas District Court and is expected to be charged with the murder of a 19-month-old baby boy in Clane, Co Kildare, yesterday.
The 28-year-old man was being held last night at Naas Garda station, where he was questioned about the death of Nathan Alli at a house in The Elms, College Road.
An ambulance was called to an upstairs apartment in the house where the infant was found shortly after 4 a.m. Ambulance workers alerted gardai to the incident after becoming suspicious about the baby's injuries.
The infant was taken by ambulance to Naas General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 4.30 a.m.
At about 6.50 a.m., gardai - who were initially treating the death as suspicious - arrested the 28-year-old man, who was at the hospital.
Investigating gardai under Chief Supt Sean Feely sealed off the house for forensic examination.
The infant's mother was believed to have been in the house at the time. She was being comforted last night by relatives.
A post-mortem examination on the infant, who was understood to have been an only child, was carried out by the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison. Gardai said the results of the post-mortem were not being released for operational reasons. It is understood, however, that the infant suffered injuries to his head, possibly as the result of a heavy blow.
The man, who is to appear in court at 11 a.m. today, was held for questioning under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. At 7.30 p.m. yesterday gardai confirmed that they were conducting a murder investigation and that the man was being detained overnight on a holding charge.
