The babysitter who was looking after a 17-month-old boy in the hours before he he was taken to hospital with fatal injuries has admitted the little boy ‘slipped’ from his pram.
Quentin Corrigan said Ronan seemed ‘fine’ when he dropped the baby back at his parent’s Adelaide home on June 7.
Corrigan said he took an Uber from his apartment in Glenelg North to parents Glenn Davies and Melanie Nguyen’s Ottoway home at about 4pm.
Ronan was rushed to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital by ambulance shortly later with ‘critical head injuries and other serious internal injuries’ after his father couldn’t wake him.
The infant died at the hospital two days later on June 9.
A murder investigation was launched this week.
Baby Ronan (pictured with his mother Melanie Nguyen) died on June 9 after suffering ‘critical head injuries and other serious internal injuries’ on June 7
On Tuesday Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said police are focusing its murder investigation into the baby’s death on the two days he was under the care of his parents’ friends.
Corrigan was identified as one of Ronan’s babysitters during that time but denies claims he assaulted the little boy, who celebrated his first birthday in January.
‘So when I left to take him to take him to my [ex-girlfriend’s] place he slipped out of the pram and I picked him up and comforted him,’ he told 7News on Wednesday.
‘…When he fell out of the pram he made a noise. I’m maybe in shock but I had my back turned to him. He was fine after that.’
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Mr McEachern is responsible for the infant’s death.
CCTV footage shows two men walking with a black pram, like Ronan’s, to an Ottoway service station shortly before the baby was rushed to hospital.
Corrigan claims Ronan was ‘awake’ for most of the Uber ride between his apartment and Mr Davies and Ms Nguyen’s home.
‘[He fell asleep] probably either the tail end of the car ride, when we got home, or in the pram walking to the shops and back,’ he said.
On Tuesday Insp McEachern said police believe Ronan (above) died while under the care of family friends
Ronan was being cared for at an apartment complex (above) in Glenelg North – babysitter Quentin Corrigan said he and Ronan took an Uber from the complex on June 7
Ronan’s parents shared a devastating tribute to their son on Wednesday.
‘He was playful, he was happy, he was perfect in every way,’ Mr Davies told reporters outside their home.
‘His favourite word was no.’
The heartbroken father admitted he still searches for his ‘cheeky boy’.
‘I can’t count the amount of times I go looking for him,’ he said.
‘I recently bought a dog to cuddle and named it Roo.’
He also thanked police, adding: ‘They’ve been amazing, they’re getting us the support we need.
‘Anyone with information please speak to police, no matter how insignificant it may be.’
A neighbour of the Ottoway home told the Adelaide Advertiser Ronan’s family had moved in ‘less than a month ago’.
‘I hope that there’s an outcome and the parents can move on and continue with their lives and not be traumatised,’ she said.
It’s understood the couple moved to Adelaide from Queensland over a year ago and were evicted from a property in the city’s west after police were called in May.
Ronan’s Vietnam-based grandmother Ngoc Cam Huynh shared a memorial post the day after his death.
Quentin Corrigan (above) claims Ronan ‘slipped’ from his pram while under his care but was ‘fine’
Heartbroken parents Glenn Davies (left) and Melanie Nguyen (right) described their son as ‘cheeky’ and ‘perfect in every way’
She said the 17-month-old’s organs were donated and saved the lives of three other children.
‘Grandma’s angel rest in peace, even though the time you stayed with your family was not long, everyone loved you so much,’ she wrote online.
‘You were cute, well behaved, innocent and very handsome.
‘Now how to remember less suffering, my son, now from sleeping, eating or going anywhere, I see your shadow, why did God take away grandma’s Ro, my son?
‘So Ro’s departure is meaningful. Your shadow and life still exist in the body of three lucky little ones. You have created happiness for their families.’
No one has been charged in relation to Ronan’s death.
‘We’re not eliminating anybody in relation to the investigation, but we are focusing on events at the Glenelg North address on the Wednesday afternoon while he was in the company of the carers.
‘Anyone who’s had contact or cared for Ronan are being spoken to, but we suspect the injuries were caused at Glenelg North on the Wednesday afternoon.’
Ronan (pictured with his mother) celebrated his first birthday in January and tragically died two days after he was injured on June 9
On Tuesday Insp McEachern revealed police are treating Ronan’s (above) death as murder
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