HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) — A funeral was held Tuesday night for the 4-year-old boy who prosecutors say starved to death in the care of his parents in Harlem.
26-year-old Nytavia Ragsdale and 25-year-old Laron Modlin have been charged with second-degree manslaughter for Jahmeik Modlin’s death on October 14th.
They are also charged with endangering the welfare of his three older siblings. They were all found to be severely malnourished and were hospitalized.
The funeral was attended by about fifty people, including a dozen members of Jahmeik’s extended family. His aunt, Nyisha Ragsdale, spoke briefly from the pulpit, saying “I got the phone call on my birthday, he died on my birthday.”
Ragsdale hopes to gain custody of the surviving siblings and has also retained attorney Sandford Rubenstein to sue the city’s Administration for Children’s Services. The suit alleges A.C.S. “failed in its duty to monitor the safety of Jahmeik Modlin, despite multiple reports of domestic violence, malnutrition and unsafe conditions within the household.”