Boy, 2, Cares for Baby Sister for 2 Days After Mother Dies

VANCOUVER, Wash. —  For two days after his mother died in their apartment, 2-year-old Thomas Hubbard fed his baby sister cereal and took care of her, not letting in a new baby sitter because she was a stranger.

Through the door, he told her his mother was sleeping.

Paramedics later found the mother, Patti Sue Jones, 36, in bed with a book over her face, as if she had been reading. An autopsy failed to pinpoint a cause of death, but there was no evidence of foul play, deputy coroner Brian Miller said Sunday.

While his mother lay dead, Thomas watched over his 1 1/2-year-old sister, Kiana. He couldn’t get milk for her because Jones had put child locks on the refrigerator door, so he fed her cold cereal and crackers, family members said.

“Somehow he knew she needed something to eat,” said Bella Yost, Jones’ mother. “I’m just amazed.”

Thomas, who turns 3 in April, also knew Kiana was wet, but the best he could do was stuff toilet paper into her diaper.

Police said baby sitter Sarah Patrice McLatchey, 28, discovered that Jones hadn’t gone to work Monday after Thomas refused to let her in. The boy finally used a chair to reach the doorknob and let her in after she tried twice on Tuesday. She called paramedics.

The children are being taken care of by their father, Thomas Ray Hubbard. The parents were never married, but he was seeking shared custody.