Police investigate death of 5-year-old boy at Grafton home in NSW

Left · 2Emergency services were called to a home in Grafton, in the NSW Northern Rivers, at about 6:40am on Monday 12 October 2026 after a five-year-old boy was reported unresponsive. 1 2 Left · 2Police began CPR and paramedics arrived a short time later, but the boy could not be revived. 1 2 Left · 2Specialist police forensically examined the scene, and a post-mortem examination will be carried out to establish further how the boy died. 1 2

Left · 2Inquiries are continuing under Strike Force Milona with the assistance of the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad, according to a police statement quoted by the Mirror; the ABC also reports the homicide squad is assisting. 2 1 Left · 1A Department of Communities and Justice spokesperson told the ABC the department was working with NSW Police to assist with their inquiries, and the ABC reports the matter has been referred to the coroner. 1 Left · 1The Daily Mirror, citing reports it does not name, says the boy, who had intellectual disabilities, and his siblings were allegedly duct-taped into sleeping bags, with tape over their eyes at night, and that the boy was allegedly taped around the head; it says officers were told this was to help him sleep. These claims are not in the ABC report or the police statement it quotes. 2

Left · 1The Mirror also reports that investigators have interviewed the boy's father and stepmother, that possible charges will be considered after the post-mortem, that police were called to the home in 2025 over concerns, and that the siblings have been moved to relatives. It says police have not confirmed any arrests. 2 Left · 1Police ask anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. 2