DEATHS OF BABIES IN BROOKLYN PARK, LAKEVILLE PROBED

Authorities are investigating the deaths of two babies in unrelated incidents.

In Lakeville, the death of 10-month-old Jessica L. McClure is being treated as a homicide, although her mother said the infant suffered a fall, according to police.

On Sunday afternoon, officers responding to a 911 call found the the girl on the floor of her parents' kitchen at 17448 Iceland Trail. She was pronounced dead Tuesday at Minneapolis Children's Hospital.

Initial X-rays revealed a large fracture in the child's skull, police said. An autopsy later concluded that she died from blunt-force cranial and cerebral injuries, the Hennepin County medical examiner's office said.

The girl's mother, Julie McClure, ``initially said the child fell from a standing position to the kitchen floor,'' Lakeville Police Chief Don Gudmundson said in a statement. ``She later indicated the child also fell from the kitchen counter to the floor earlier on Sunday afternoon.''