MYSTERY IN QUEENS
By DOUGLAS MONTERO, JOHN DOYLE and CYNTHIA R. FAGEN
A Queens toddler yanked from his abusive mother two years ago was found mysteriously dead in his bed - only a month after the ACS gave him back to the 20-year-old woman.
The mother, Sheree Brown, who neighbors said is pregnant with her fourth child, was questioned yesterday but released without charges last night.
Cops are also considering whether 2-year-old Jashya, who had been in foster care, was killed accidentally by his 5-year-old brother, Ajustice. "It's not yet been ruled out as a possibility," said a police source.
Brown's boyfriend, Daquen Williams, 23, with whom she has an infant, was babysitting all three children in their Far Rockaway apartment while she went out Monday afternoon.
Brown told authorities she had put Jashya to bed for a nap at 2:30 p.m. and when she returned at 4 p.m., he was still asleep.
But at 8 p.m., when she checked in on him, he was unresponsive and she called 911. Jashya was rushed to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, where he was declared dead.
Sources told The Post that rigor mortis had already set in. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
Brown insisted she had nothing to do with killing Jashya, instead blaming Ajustice - a boy she had once beaten, sources said.
The boy allegedly admitted he had been "wrestling" with his little brother, who had fallen off his bicycle in their apartment.
The child had bite marks and scratches on his face, sources said.
"Jashya was a playful kid. He liked to wrestle," said Brown's cousin, Chanell Purrington, 23. "All she was trying to do was make things better for her and her kids."
Brown has a long, troubling history with the city's Administration for Children's Services. Ajustice and Jashya were put in foster care in 2006. Jashya was just 6 months old and covered in burns when ACS removed him.
Police said there are no records of an arrest related to the incident.
ACS also removed her third child - whom police sources identified as 1-year-old Anaya Williams - soon after she was born.
Brown was locked up in February 2005 for hitting Ajustice.
Brown took parenting and anger-management classes and was receiving therapy in an effort to get her children back, sources said.
In February, a Family Court judge agreed to allow Jashya back home with his mom on a "trial basis," said court spokesman David Bookstaver. "Jashya was returned with the consent and advice of both ACS and the child's law guardian," he said.
A caseworker had visited the home last Wednesday and found nothing amiss, the agency said.
This year, the family was seen by both foster and preventive agencies more than 30 times, ACS said.
Additional reporting by Perry Chiaramonte
douglas.montero@nypost.com
TOT SENT HOME BY ACS DIES - New York Post
Brown's boyfriend, Daquen Williams, 23, with whom she has an infant, was babysitting all three children in their Far Rockaway apartment while she went out Monday afternoon.
Brown told authorities she had put Jashya to bed for a nap at 2:30 p.m. and when she returned at 4 p.m., he was still asleep.
But at 8 p.m., when she checked in on him, he was unresponsive and she called 911. Jashya was rushed to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, where he was declared dead.
Sources told The Post that rigor mortis had already set in. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
Brown insisted she had nothing to do with killing Jashya, instead blaming Ajustice - a boy she had once beaten, sources said.
The boy allegedly admitted he had been "wrestling" with his little brother, who had fallen off his bicycle in their apartment.
The child had bite marks and scratches on his face, sources said.
"Jashya was a playful kid. He liked to wrestle," said Brown's cousin, Chanell Purrington, 23. "All she was trying to do was make things better for her and her kids."
Brown has a long, troubling history with the city's Administration for Children's Services. Ajustice and Jashya were put in foster care in 2006. Jashya was just 6 months old and covered in burns when ACS removed him.
Police said there are no records of an arrest related to the incident.
ACS also removed her third child - whom police sources identified as 1-year-old Anaya Williams - soon after she was born.
Brown was locked up in February 2005 for hitting Ajustice.
Brown took parenting and anger-management classes and was receiving therapy in an effort to get her children back, sources said.
In February, a Family Court judge agreed to allow Jashya back home with his mom on a "trial basis," said court spokesman David Bookstaver. "Jashya was returned with the consent and advice of both ACS and the child's law guardian," he said.
A caseworker had visited the home last Wednesday and found nothing amiss, the agency said.
This year, the family was seen by both foster and preventive agencies more than 30 times, ACS said.
Additional reporting by Perry Chiaramonte
douglas.montero@nypost.com
TOT SENT HOME BY ACS DIES - New York Post
1 comment:
This reminds me of Nixmary Brown all over again. That poor kid. This is so sad how innocent babies and children are dying at the hands of their parents who are supposed to love, provide, and protect them certainly not harm and kill them. My heart goes out to all these abused children. What a shame on the entire system and mankind. This entire family was riddled with ACS cases for many years. And now it ends with the violent death of a beautiful innocent 2 year old toddler. So sad. I'm just wondering though, how does the judge(s), numerous ACS caseworkers, and the children's law guardian(s) feel about this case being that they all deemed it "SAFE" to send the children back home. Are anyone of these professional expert people having trouble sleeping or is it just business as usual?
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