“As soon as he arrived, police immediately commenced CPR and the mother had called Triple Zero prior to arrival.”
Officers tried to perform CPR, but he died in the station’s foyer after suffering a head injury, police said.
Police said a 24-year-old Beenleigh man, believed to have also been in the vehicle, left the crash scene with the one-year-old child before officers arrived. Mooney said higher charges of manslaughter or murder were not off the table, and police were still investigating.
The man was found at another address in Beenleigh about 6.30am, and the toddler was taken to hospital for treatment, police said. The one-year-old boy did not suffer serious injuries, Mooney said.
Mooney said the mother had a current temporary protection order in place, and the father had been charged for breaching it.
He said the pair had been in a relationship for a number of years, but had been separated for 12 months.
Mooney said investigators were working to determine how the crash occurred, and confirmed there were two child seats in the car.
“We understand the mother and the two children have travelled up from the Gold Coast early in the morning, arriving at the Coral Street address where they collected the male,” he said.
Mooney urged anyone with dashcam footage or other information that may help to come forward.
In a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Health Minister Tim Nicholls offered his sympathies to the families of the loved ones involved.
“Advice I’ve received this morning from the Queensland Ambulance Service … is that it was quite a horrific circumstance that they were presented with [at the Beenleigh Police Station].
“Many thanks to the first responders for the terrific and often unheralded work that they do that has a terrible impact on them and their loved ones as well.
“Domestic violence is the scourge of our community.”
