Plans set to remember Bella Tennant

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) - Officials are answering some lingering questions in the death of five-year-old Isabella Tennant.

Niagara Falls Police have said they didn't suspect Bella was sexually abused. Wednesday morning, the Niagara County coroner said that was true, her autopsy didn't show any signs of sexual abuse.

The coroner says Bella's official cause of death was mechanical obstruction of the airway and compression of the neck.

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Niagara Falls Police say 16-year-old John Freeman killed Bella with his bare hands. Freeman and his co-defendant 18-year-old Tyler Best, who is accused of helping hide Bella's body in a garbage can, pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday. For Erie County district attorney Frank Clark says the term "mechanical obstruction" is rare and could mean that police found evidence that something was inside Bella's mouth.

MORE | Isabella's mother spoke to News 4 in an exclusive interview, talking about her tragic loss and explaining why Bella was left alone with a 16-year-old after the girl's great grandmother had gone to bed

Clark said, “The way I read that is something unnatural was put into her airway, which prevented her from breathing and and that prevention caused her death.”

“That the prosecutor has charged at least now is murder in the second degree, which means the actor intended to cause her death,” Clark explained.

Freeman's attorney Robert Viola asked the judge to seal his alleged confession to police.

Bella will be remembered at St. Louis Church, on Main and Edward Streets, Saturday at 9 a.m.