A teenage mother has been charged in connection with the violent death of her two-year-old son, adding to the alarming number of recent child abuse cases that have ended in fatality.
Authorities believe that Sheepshead Bay resident Geraldine Smith, 19, beat toddler son Jayden Smith and threw him into furniture in her apartment at the Nostrand Houses last week; around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, she reportedly called 911 and said he was vomiting and had trouble breathing. Jayden died at Maimonides Medical Center later that day, and yesterday medical examiners determined he died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen, ruling the death a homicide.
Smith, who officials say initially claimed Jayden had run into the couch, has since been charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Those charges may be bumped up to murder. She has a daughter, Jayden's twin, who has been taken in by agents from the Administration for Children’s Services. "I wish she would have knocked on my door if she was having problems,” a neighbor told the Times. “Maybe we could have took the baby a little while for her."
Jayden's tragic death is one of several suspected child abuse-related ones this year, the most prominent of which was the death of 4-year-old Myls Dobson at the alleged hand of his abusive caretaker last month. A report submitted by ACS noted gaps in its involvement with Myls's case, and Mayor de Blasio has since proposed changes to the agency's policies. And earlier this month, 2-year-old Kevasia Edwards died after allegedly being beaten by her mother, who has since been charged with murder.
