JAYDEN SMITH - 2 yo / Charged: Mother; Geraldine Smith - New York City NY

by mom_in_il Tue Feb 18, 2014 8:19 pm

Woman Charged in Death of Her Son, 2, in Brooklyn

By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS
FEB. 11, 2014

A 19-year-old Brooklyn woman was charged Tuesday in connection with the death of her 2-year-old son, the latest in a string of suspicious child deaths in New York City investigated by the police.

Emergency responders were called to the woman’s apartment in Sheepshead Bay early last Thursday and found the boy, Jayden Smith, vomiting and having difficulty breathing. He was pronounced dead at Maimonides Medical Center.

On Tuesday, the New York City medical examiner’s office found that the boy died of blunt force trauma to his abdomen and ruled the death a homicide. His mother, Geraldine Smith, was charged on Tuesday evening with assault, child endangerment and assaulting a person under 7 years of age, police officials said.

The boy’s twin was put in the care of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services Tuesday.

The agency, which is investigating the boy’s death, declined to say whether it had prior contact with the family, citing confidentiality laws.

Pam Holloman, a neighbor of Ms. Smith’s, said on Tuesday night that the twins had seemed like normal, happy toddlers.

“I wish she would have knocked on my door if she was having problems,” Ms. Holloman said. “Maybe we could have took the baby a little while for her.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed changes to child protection policies in response to the death of another child, Myls Dobson, 4, in Manhattan on Jan. 8; a caregiver has been charged in connection with his death. This month Kevasia Edwards, 2, was found unconscious in her home in Queens with broken ribs and bruising around her mouth, and later died. Her mother, Ashley Diaz, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/nyregion/woman-charged-in-death-of-her-son-2-in-brooklyn.html?WT.mc_id=D-E-OTB-AD-RSS-NY-PRES-OS-0214&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=__CAMP_UID__&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1391230800000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=0