The father of a 4-year-old boy found dead in his Harlem apartment, apparently malnourished, has now been arrested in the case, hours after the mother was charged, according to police and law enforcement sources.
Laron Modlin was charged with criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child — the same offenses the boy's mother was charged with on Monday. The 25-year-old Modlin has two sealed arrests from 2015, the details of which weren't clear. It also wasn't known if he had an attorney.
Police did not state whether Modlin lived in the apartment where the boy, identified by police as Jahmeik Modlin, was found.
According to investigators, cops responding to a 911 call about an unconscious child at a home on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday found the young boy unresponsive. He was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death for Jahmeik.
Officers took his mother, Nytavia Ragsdale, into custody for questioning and later charged her. Attorney information for the 26-year-old Ragsdale was not immediately available.
A woman who lives in the same building said Ragsdale had four children, though multiple neighbors and the building's superintendent told NBC New York they never saw the kids — and when they saw the mother, she was rarely in clean clothes.
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"I never see them go to school...I never see her take them out. I don’t even see her grocery shop, to be honest," said neighbor Erica Speed. "She had on the same outfit basically for like two years. I tried to offer her clothes, her pride is too — I don’t know. She ain’t never want the help.”
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Speed mentioned that workers with the Administration for Children's Services had recently been at the building to do general outreach. The agency is now investigating the incident with the NYPD.
"At the end of the day, you’re supposed to protect your child. You’re supposed to let no one harm your kid ...Where’s the other ones? Because one only came out. What about the other three?" asked Speed.
Police said the three other children living in the apartment were all under the age of 10, and were staying with other family members Monday night.
Around noon on Monday, officers with the Emergency Services Unit went into the apartment building with tactical gear and tools. Law enforcement sources said it was for a wellness check, but no one was at the home.
"Sometimes there’s trauma we see and don’t see...so neighbors, people like that, need to check on each other, whether you know the person or not," said Dr. Iesha Sekou, the CEO of Street Corner Resources.
