10-year-old bedridden boy with a feeding tube starves to death after mom OD

August 16, 2024 Gloria Shaw

A tragic incident in the Bronx has left the community reeling after a 10-year-old boy, bedridden and reliant on a feeding tube, was found dead from apparent starvation following the fatal overdose of his mother.

The boy and his 39-year-old mother were discovered late Wednesday in their apartment at the Marble Hill NYCHA complex, where police were responding to complaints about a foul odor, according to law enforcement sources.

The mother had been under investigation by the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) for abuse and neglect, and the boy had been removed from her care at one point before being returned.

The possibility that this heartbreaking event could have been prevented if not for what some see as a critical failure by ACS has sparked outrage among officials and investigators.

“If you investigate a parent and return a child who later dies, that is a crime and someone needs to be held accountable,” one investigator said, emphasizing that ACS needs a “total overhaul” to prevent such tragedies, which occur all too frequently.

Also, sources suggest that the mother’s death was likely due to a drug overdose, leaving her special needs son alone and unable to care for himself. Without his mother’s assistance, the boy, who was bedridden and required a feeding tube, is believed to have starved to death.

This devastating discovery was not the only child death in the Bronx that night involving a family under ACS investigation. In a separate incident, an 11-month-old girl named Jazeli Mirabel was found drowned in a bathtub after her mother called 911.

The mother gave conflicting accounts of what happened to her daughter, who was pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital. Both Jazeli’s mother and father had open cases with ACS, though it is unclear where either parent was at the time of the baby’s death.

Autopsies were scheduled to be conducted on the boy, his mother, and Jazeli Mirabel to determine the exact causes of death.

The situation has reignited concerns about the effectiveness of ACS, with some pointing to the heavy caseloads faced by ACS workers and calling for greater accountability.

Councilwoman Diana Ayala, who represents parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, described the boy’s death as “heartbreaking” and vowed to follow up on the case.

However, ACS representatives have stated that state law prevents them from sharing details about specific cases.

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