Family Wants Answers After Tragic Death Of 11-Year-Old Haverhill Girl

HAVERHILL (CBS) – A family is still looking for answers after an 11-year-old Haverhill girl died Tuesday after being rushed from a Lawrence family member's home over the weekend.

Precious Wallaces died after spending several days in a coma. The cause of her death has not yet been determined.

She was a sixth grader at the Consentino Middle School in Haverhill. The school has made grief counselors available this week for her peers.

"We had grief counselors brought in, a very, very tragic day for the family, the kids and the whole city," said Mayor James Fiorentini.

A relative said the family still doesn't know exactly what happened to Precious.

"We are as clueless as everyone else is," her aunt Cathie Rivera wrote on Facebook. "We are all looking for answers and trying to figure out what happened to my niece."

Police were called to an apartment on Jackson Street in Lawrence around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday. Investigators said Precious was visiting a relative. She was rushed to Lawrence General Hospital, then taken by MedFlight to Tufts Medical Center. She remained in a coma until Tuesday.

The Essex District Attorney's office said no charges have been filed yet. Wallaces' death is still under investigation, but police are working to determine if she was exposed to a substance such as the deadly opioid fentanyl.

"At this point in time, all possible causes are being considered – including possible exposure to a toxic substance. However, we cannot confirm any specific cause at this time – as that is the purpose of our investigation," the DA's office said in a statement.

Neighbors in Lawrence say police are often called to the building, so they didn't think twice about ambulances and sirens on Saturday.

"You can see something like that happening in that building," a neighbor told WBZ.

An online fundraising page has been created to pay for funeral expenses.