New York – Prosecutors said Thursday that the Harlem home where 4-year-old Jahmeik Modlin lost consciousness before dying at a hospital had food stashed away in cabinets.
According to a Manhattan District Attorney’s Office spokesperson, prosecutors allege that a refrigerator in the residence contained untouched food and was turned to the wall. Prosecutors also claimed that food was stored in cabinets with kid locks.
At 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, officers responded to a 911 call reporting an unresponsive youngster in a home on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. According to PIX11 News sources, the child’s father called 911 before leaving the residence.
Modlin later died at a nearby hospital. According to the city’s medical examiner, he died weighing 19 pounds and suffering from severe malnutrition, dehydration, and starvation.
According to sources, police believe the boy’s mother, Nytavia Ragsdale, 26, was starving him to death.
Ragsdale and the boy’s father, Laron Modlin, 25, have been charged with second-degree manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, according to court filings.
Police also sent Ragsdale’s three other children to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation. Officials stated they were all very malnourished.
According to the criminal complaint, Ragsdale and Modlin claimed to be feeding their son and other children and had never curtailed their food intake.
Source: Home of starving NYC boy had locked cabinets with food: prosecutors
