A 34-year-old Bronx man was arrested on a bevy of charges when two children -- a 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy -- were found badly bruised inside his apartment earlier this week, authorities say, after they were allegedly held captive for months while being starved and even pistol whipped.
The circumstances of the case, which unfolded at the Eastchester Gardens housing complex on Burke Avenue home in Laconia, remain under investigation. Neighbors and prosecutors describe it as highly disturbing.
According to police, NYPD officers responding to a 911 call about some sort of dispute inside Michael Ramos' apartment around 7:30 a.m. Monday discovered the two kids in poor condition. They also found a firearm with a defaced registration.
Ramos is charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child, causing serious injury with a weapon, reckless behavior, criminal possession of a weapon and 18 counts of assault. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC New York.
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According to the criminal complaint, the 14-year-old girl told police that Ramos would threaten them and hold a pistol to their heads. The 13-year-old boy was severely underweight, with swollen eyes and bruises.
"The defendant used a fork to jab [the girl] on the right side of her face and knees, causing bleeding puncture wounds and small lacerations to the right side of her face and knees," the complaint alleges. "On more than one occasion, the defendant struck [the girl and the boy] repeatedly about the head and various parts of their body with a wooden bat, a metal bat, a black tension rod, and an electrical cord."
The status of the children also wasn't clear, but police said the two teens showed clear signs of malnutrition and abuse. A woman who lives right above Ramos' apartment says both of the kids are autistic. She says the 13-year-old boy went to school with her son.
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"Beautiful kids. Even for autism, they were very high-functioning, very well kept," she said, adding that she never heard anything amiss coming from Ramos' apartment until a few days ago, when she noticed a commotion early in the morning.
Other neighbors say they hadn't seen the kids on the playground or even around the building for months, so they thought they no longer lived there. The children's foster mom, Carmen Chardon, died in 2021; prosecutors said that Ramos is Chardon's son.
"They were her kids, she adopted them and wanted someone to love them — not abuse them," said Juanita Jackson, a neighbor.
Another neighbor said foster care agents did routine check-ins when the foster mother was alive. It's not clear what happened in that regard after Chardon's death.
Some neighbors said that they routinely heard loud music and noises coming from the apartment, but nothing that would reveal the kids were there.
A woman who knew the foster mother said Ramos got visibly frustrated when people asked him recently about the kids. That woman said Ramos told people the children had moved to Puerto Rico with other relatives.
"I really, really, really wished that we as a community would have gotten involved sooner than now," said neighbor Leslie Bell.
The children were taken to the hospital for treatment. Ramos was ordered held behind bars.
The apartment unit where the children lived showed signs of forced entry, possibly from police activity. A new lock had also been installed on the door as of Thursday.
The investigation is ongoing.
