Autopsy Results Confirm 2-Year-Old Died by Asphyxiation

An autopsy has been performed on little Malaysa Matamoros, she's the two-year-old girl found dead in her father's apartment Wednesday morning. The cause of death is asphyxiation. As we've reported, the father says an intruder killed his daughter. Police are still investigating that claim, but as WAFB's Matt Williams shows us, the little girl's mother tells another story.

Shantel Fountain, the mother of Malaysa Matamoros, was never married to Cedric Matamoros, the man who says an intruder is responsible for their daughter's death. Shantel says that by November of last year the two were apart for good, but that they tried to work out how he could still see his daughter.

"It took a period of time," says Fountain, "but finally he started coming to get her on the weekends and he'd bring her back."

She says it was working for awhile, that is until, "About two months ago, he came down on a Friday. He was supposed to bring her back Sunday or Monday. We got into it on that Monday because he said he wasn't going to give her back."

So Fountain went to the police to try and get her baby back.

"I called the police and they said by him being on the birth certificate and her having his last name, that there is nothing they can do."

Fountain hired a lawyer, and a court date was set to decide legal custody of Malaysia: September 5 -- next week.

"They need to change the laws," says Fountain. "Just because somebody is on the birth certificate shouldn't give them the right to take the child when I've had her most of the time.  I took care of her.  He wasn't on child support, he wasn't helping."

As far as how her little girl died, Fountain isn't buying the intruder story. She believes it was Cedric: "I really honestly believe he did something to my baby, I believe that."

Now it's up to investigators to figure out what really happened, and hopefully bring some justice for little Malaysia.

The family has set up a memorial fund for Malaysia, who would have turned three this October.  You can go to any Chase Bank and contribute. The fund is under her grandmother's name: Mary Meggs dba Malaysia Matamoros Memorial Fund.

Reporter: Matt Williams mattwilliams@wafb.com