A malnourished 4-year-old boy died after being found unconscious with apparent burn marks on his chest inside his family’s Harlem apartment, police said Monday.
The boy’s mother called 911 from the family’s home on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd . near W. 145th St. at 7:42 p.m. Sunday to report the victim was unconscious. Medics found the boy unresponsive and rushed him to Harlem Hospital.
The youngster, who was also suffering from hypothermia, died at the hospital about 10 hours later. His name was not immediately released.
The boy’s 26-year-old mother is being questioned by detectives at the NYPD’s 32nd Precinct stationhouse.
The city Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine how the boy died.
Yellow police tape still remained on the door of the boy’s sixth-floor apartment Monday as NYPD detectives knocked on neighbors’ doors.
Lauris Soto, 32, who lives on the same floor, said the mom hadn’t lived there long.
“I didn’t know she had a son,” Soto said. “She’s a really nice lady. Sometimes she sit here (on the stairs of her apartment building) to smoke. Sometimes you see her talking on the phone and smoking.”