By Caleb Lunetta | [email protected] | The San Diego Union-Tribune

The parents of a malnourished 16-month-old toddler who died at a Poway hospital last year were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder, San Diego police said.

Jamar Branch, 39, and Helena Branch, 37, were arrested on allegations that they neglected their son, Benjamin, leading him to become underweight and underfed, police Lt. Jon Dungan said in a news release.

The child's death occurred shortly after his mother called 911 around 11:40 a.m. Nov. 6 and told dispatchers that her son was unresponsive and not breathing at an apartment on Evening Creek Drive east of Interstate 15 in Sabre Springs, Dungan said.

Paramedics took him to Pomerado Hospital, where he died around 12:30 p.m.

Child abuse detectives worked with the department's homicide unit, county Medical Examiner's Office, District Attorney's Office and Rady's Children's Hospital to determine the toddler had been neglected over a "lengthy period of time, ultimately leading to his death," Dungan said.

The parents were arrested at the county Juvenile Court building, investigators said.

"The investigation has been extensive and is ongoing so the parents were unaware they were going to be arrested," Dungan said Wednesday. "They were not arrested immediately after the child's death because of the follow-up that was necessary to determine the circumstances leading to the child's death."

Arraignment in San Diego Superior Court has been set for Friday.

No other information was immediately available.