Infant death now eyed as murder
BY BRITTANY KRIEGSTEIN, ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND THOMAS TRACY
The death of a month-old Brooklyn boy six months ago is now being investigated as a murder, police said Wednesday.
Daquan Vaughn-Sanchez died at SUNY Downstate Medical Center on March 10. The city medical examiner’s officer this week ruled the death a homicide, police said.
The cause of death was trauma to the head and neck. Cops suspect he died of shaken baby syndrome.
On March 8, Daquan’s 25-yearold father called 911 to report that the infant was unconscious inside the family’s apartment on E. 32nd St. near Snyder Ave. in East Flatbush.
EMS rushed the infant to SUNY Downstate, where he died two days later.
“It hurts me that my first child is no longer with me,” Daquan’s mother posted on Facebook a few days after her child’s death. “But it’s good that you in a better place. Baby, it’s extremely hard these few days without you. I feel sick to my stomach. I can’t bear the thought of you being gone from my arms.
“When you came into my life, I’ve felt love that was uncanny. It’s unspeakable. You was the light into my darkness,” she wrote. “But I’ve crumbled. I’ve lost myself. But I’m going to try my best to make you proud of your mother. Every goal I had set for us, I’m going to accomplish it.”
No arrest has been made. A spokeswoman for the Administration for Children’s Services would not say if they were investigating abuse at Daquan’s home before his death.
“Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City,” the spokeswoman said. “ACS is coordinating with NYPD on this case.”
The tragedy is the latest in a disturbing series of deaths in the city involving babies and toddlers.
In August, 7-year-old Julissia Batties died of blunt force trauma in her mother’s Bronx apartment. Earlier this month, 4-year-old Jaycee Eubanks died after being thrown to the floor by his mother’s boyfriend, according to the victim’s brother. Also this month, a reckless driver crashed into another vehicle in Clinton Hill and then careened into the stroller of a 3-month-old baby, who was killed.