Beat slaying stirred by TV, say cops

A disabled 15-year-old was mercilessly beaten to death in an Upper West Side housing project last summer by an adult cousin annoyed the victim bothered him while he watched Netflix, police said Friday.

Jallen McConnie, who was visiting from Georgia, died on June 28. The suspect, Mitcaux Booker, 32, was charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child on June 30.

Booker has been at Rikers Island since his arrest. He’s currently being held without bail.

Police said Booker, who has no prior arrests, could now face murder charges because the medical examiner’s office has determined McConnie was beaten to death.

When cops responded to Booker’s home — an apartment at the Wise Houses on W. 94th St. near Columbus Ave. — the suspect claimed the teen had gotten into a fight on the street, police said.

Booker allegedly claimed that McConnie came home, took a shower, and collapsed in the tub.

The FDNY found McConnie inside the apartment lying unconscious on a bed dressed in dry clothes. Medics rushed the teen to Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, but he could not be saved.

The autopsy results noted bruises and cuts on both of the teen’s arms, legs, the back of his neck, chest, and back and face, consistent with being hit with hard objects, something belt-like or strap-like, and hands, the complaint said.

Booker admitted he was watching Netflix and got annoyed because McConnie was interrupting his TV time, police said.

McConnie had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. His family believed he was autistic, police said.

Booker admitted beating McConnie “with a belt at least fifty times over the course of an hour,” according to court documents.

“After beating Jallen McConnie, the defendant led Jallen McConnie to the shower and observed Jallen McConnie ‘buckle’ and slump down into the tub with the water running,” reads a section of the complaint.

The suspect’s sister and her husband were also in the apartment the day of the incident. It is not yet clear if they could face criminal charges.