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NYPD Eyeing Father in Death of 5-Month-Old Girl in Sunnyside, Official Says

By  Jeanmarie Evelly and Ben Fractenberg | August 4, 2016 7:12pm 

 Alaia Baque was found unconscious with head trauma in her Sunnyside home on Saturday, police said. 
Alaia Baque was found unconscious with head trauma in her Sunnyside home on Saturday, police said. 
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Chris Sommerfeldt

SUNNYSIDE — Police believe the father of the 5-month-old girl who died of head trauma in Queens earlier this week was involved in her death, an NYPD official said Thursday — describing the crime as a "very strange story" that's still under investigation.

Police said investigators are "looking at" Jorge Baque, the father of infant Alaia Baque, who was found unconscious in her Sunnyside home on Greenpoint Avenue on Saturday morning.

The child died from "abusive head trauma" after suffering eight skull fractures, according to officials, who ruled her death a homicide on Sunday.

"The father is someone we're looking at at this point. He had exclusive opportunity," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told reporters at an unrelated press conference Thursday, saying police are "in the midst of investigating a very strange story."

"He took the child, little girl, to a Santa Maria [Santería] priestess because he felt she was acting abnormally," Boyce said. "We spoke to that lady. It doesn't seem to be the issue here, but nonetheless we believe the father is involved in this."

It was not immediately clear if Baque has an attorney. No one was in custody as of Thursday, police said, and the Queens District Attorney's Office said no one has been charged yet in the case.