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Child's death suspicious
Boyfriend of mother held on other charges
Dead Baby 3 es
Sheriff’s Investigator Bill Franco searches a truck parked on the lawn of a Catalina Drive house where a 2-year-old boy was found dead Friday morning. - photo by Emily Saunders

Authorities are investigating the suspicious death of a 2-year-old boy Friday morning at his home on Catalina Drive near Lake Lanier.

Lt. Col. Gene Moss of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office said the child was not alive when authorities arrived about 7 a.m.

"Right now we're treating this as a crime scene until we get information back from an autopsy and we're not releasing the circumstances (of the death) at this point," he said.

Moss did not know how long the autopsy results would take to come back from the GBI crime lab. He said a thorough investigation is conducted any time a child dies and a fatality review panel evaluates the cases.

In the meantime, authorities have arrested the mother's live-in boyfriend on charges unrelated to the child's death.

Christopher Brian Gilreath, 39, has been charged with failure to register as a convicted sex offender and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Gilreath is being held without bond at the Forsyth County Detention Center, a jail spokeswoman said.

Authorities said Gilreath may have fled Pennsylvania, where he is a registered sex offender.

The mother's identity has not been released.

Forsyth County Fire Capt. Jason Shivers said the woman called 911 Friday morning to report that the child was not breathing. He said law enforcement was notified shortly after emergency medical personnel responded.

Moss said the couple moved from South Carolina in December. He said another 2-year-old who lived at the house was taken into protective custody.

Both are the mother's adopted children, he said.

Forsyth County property records show that a local property management company owns the 1,540-square-foot home.

Reached late Friday, representatives declined to comment on the matter.

Shivers said a voluntary counseling session was held for emergency personnel who responded to the incident.

He said child deaths are difficult for responders, especially those who are parents.

"The fire department takes the emotional stress of a child death on our personnel very seriously and we always recognize the need for a critical incident stress management session," he said. "Such was the case today."