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Death of 4-year-old Brooklyn boy ruled homicide, stepdad charged
[NYPOST] The death of a 4-year-old boy in his Brooklyn home over the weekend has been ruled a homicide — and his stepdad has been charged with his murder, authorities said. Little Jaycee Eubanks died of battered child syndrome with recent blunt trauma to the torso, the city Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed. The child’s mother was holding Jaycee when she waved down police in front of her home on Baltic Street in Gowanus around 5 a.m., Sunday, police said. Officers attempted CPR on the child, who was rushed to Brooklyn Hospital. He was pronounced dead a short time later, according to police. Around the same time, someone called 911 stating that a man was attempting to kill himself at the address, authorities said. Police who responded found that it was the stepfather — identified Wednesday as Jerimiah Johnson, 27 — who was taken into custody, cops said. Cops confirmed Wednesday morning that Johnson was charged with murder and acting in a manner injurious to a child. He was being held at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn as an emotionally disturbed person, authorities said. A source with knowledge of the case told the Post Tuesday that the NYPD was alerted to possible abuse of the boy just weeks before he died — but botched the case by not doing a thorough enough investigation. Workers from the non-profit Safe Horizons interviewed Jaycee and his 6-year-old brother with Special Victims Division officers present — but the cops wrote off the complaint without following protocols that would have spurred a follow-up with the family, the source said. An NYPD spokesperson said the cops did make a referral for a medical exam, but did not know if one was actually done. A spokeswoman for New York City Administration for Children’s Services declined to comment on the specifics of the case. "Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City. We are investigating this case with NYPD and we have taken action to secure the safety of the other child in the home," the spokeswoman said. A day after Jaycee’s death, another 4-year-old boy, Aisyn Gonzalez, was discovered unconscious and unresponsive when authorities responded to his family’s apartment on South 5th Street near Berry Street in Williamsburg around 10:15 a.m. Saturday, cops said. Posted by: Fred 2021-09-16 |
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