DAD IN KID SLAY
1-month-old suffered head injuries: police
A baby boy died after being rushed from his Bronx home to the hospital and his father has been charged with assaulting him, police said Tuesday.
Christian Rodriguez, 24, the dad of 1-month-old Aiden Rodriguez, was arrested and charged on Tuesday with reckless assault on a child and assault causing injury through risk of death, in connection with the infant’s death, police said.
Charges could be upgraded to murder if the autopsy concludes that the injuries caused his death.
EMTs were called to the home in the Mill Brook Houses on E. 137th St. near St. Ann’s Ave. in Mott Haven and found the baby had head injuries.
They rushed the infant to Lincoln Hospital. He was later transferred to New York-Presbyterian Columbia, where he died.
Staffers, suspecting child abuse, called police just before midnight Monday. Authorities said they are investigating whether the boy’s dad bashed his head against a wall.
“I heard a kid crying,” said a neighbor who lives across the hall from the family, who declined to give her name. “And there was a woman on the phone crying.”
Aiden’s parents were questioned by cops Tuesday morning. Around noon, the mother left the 40th Precinct stationhouse. She was too distraught to talk to a reporter.
“He’s good father,” said neighbor Randy Jones, 28. “The baby was healthy. They were pretty cool, sociable, no problems. I’m hurting. He was just a kid. Just an infant. I’m shocked. I just saw him (the father) the other day on Sunday. He was holding (Aiden) and feeding him.”
The Administration for Children’s Services, which had no contact with the family before, is probing the family now. Little Aiden’s 5-year-old brother was taken from the home and is in the care of a maternal grandmother, sources said.
“Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City. We are investigating this case, and we have taken action to secure the safety of the other child in this home,” said ACS spokeswoman Chanel Caraway.
“This was categorized as an instant response case, meaning that (the police department), ACS, working together recognizing it from the outset that this is a suspicious case,” Shea said.