NEW YORK (AP) - A 10-year-old boy was fatally abused by his mother’s companion in Harlem, police said Monday.
The mother’s boyfriend called 911 on Saturday from an apartment in the St. Nicholas Houses, Chief of Department Rodney Harrison said at a news briefing. When the officers arrived, they found 10-year-old Ayden Wolfe lying unconscious and unresponsive in the living room. The boy was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Ryan Cato, 34, was arrested late Sunday on charges of murder and endangering the welfare of a child, police said. It wasn’t clear if Cato had an attorney who could comment on the charges.
Harrison said Ayden’s body was covered with bruises both old and recent. He said the boy died of “fatal child abuse syndrome.”
The Daily News reports that residents of the housing complex held a vigil for Ayden outside of his building Sunday, and tenant association head Tyrone Ball urged residents to check on their neighbors when they hear something amiss.
“These walls are thin enough to where you can hear a child being beaten. You think it’s not your business, it is your business,” Ball said. “It takes a village to raise a child, but the village failed.”
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