Mother of dead Auburn toddler in DCF found dead of suspected overdose

The biological mother of the 2-year-old who died while in foster care in August has died of a suspected overdose according to police.

Jessica Conway, 27, was found dead in a Worcester apartment on Wednesday afternoon, according to WCVB Channel 5. The investigation of the death of her daughter Avalina Conway-Coxon is still ongoing.

Authorities responded to a report of an unresponsive child in a state-subsidized apartment in Auburn after a the foster mother ran out of the home screaming in hysterics on Saturday, August 15th.

Another toddler was taken to the hospital in critical conditions for reasons unknown.

DCF has had a long list of tragedies from 2014 alone, when 5-year-old foster child Jeremiah Oliver was found stuffed in luggage off of I-90 near Sterling. As a result, three DCF employees were fired once it was revealed that Oliver went missing and that the social worker assigned to his case hadn’t visited his family since April. Former Department of Children and Families Commissioner Olga Roche stepped down in the wake of Oliver’s death.

One-month-old Aliana Lavigne was also found dead in a Grafton apartment in April 2014, two days after social workers found a week-old fax from Grafton police. Another infant, 2-week old Bailey Irish, also died in April 2014 after her family missed a scheduled DCF visit the day before.

In July, a 7-year-old Hardwick boy fell into a coma from apparent starvation and dehydration after it was revealed that the DCF worker in charge of his case was operating without a license.

Governor Charlie Baker called for “all hands on deck” in the wake of Conway-Coxon’s death.