The parents of a 4-year-old Harlem boy who died of starvation have been indicted on murder, assault and child endangerment charges, among others, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said Wednesday, calling the case a “tragedy that has scarred the city.”
Jahmeik Modlin was found dead on Oct. 13 inside a Harlem apartment, weighing just 19 pounds. Neighbors had described his mother Nytavia Ragsdale, who was arrested along with the father, as a seemingly caring woman who often expressed concern for other children. That wasn’t true when it came to her own, prosecutors allege.
According to court records, the boy’s 25-year-old father, Laron Modlin called 911 the night Jahmeik died to report an unresponsive child. He was taken to a hospital, where he received end-of-life care until he died the next morning.
His siblings, ages 5, 6 and 7 remain hospitalized for malnutrition. Prosecutors said they displayed very limited fine motor skills, and were incapable of holding any utensils or of feeding themselves, though are improving with nutrients. When they first arrived at the hospital, they had layers of dirt on their skin and feces matted in their hair.
According to court documents and statements made on the record, Ragsdale and Modlin allegedly actively starved their children for about two years while purchasing food for themselves daily. The apartment had a working refrigerator that contained fresh produce but was turned so that the door faced the wall and could not be opened.
Any cabinet containing food had a zip tie on the handle.
One bedroom in the three-bedroom apartment was covered in feces. The floor could not be seen through the amount of dirt and excrement on the floor. The walls were smeared with feces to the approximate height of a child, prosecutors say. The only other items in the room were a few pieces of broken furniture, as well as a mattress, propped on its side and covered in feces. This room was the only room in the apartment with a lock, which was placed on the outside, allowing someone to lock someone inside the room. None of the other rooms in the house had doorknobs.
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Jahmeik and his siblings were not in school and had not seen a doctor in over two years, according to prosecutors. Their parents allegedly kept any family or friends from visiting in person, limiting communication to phone or video chats, continuing to isolate the children and hide each of their deteriorating conditions.
The city’s medical examiner determined young Jahmeik died as a result of chronic starvation, malnutrition and dehydration. He had almost no body fat when he died, records show.
“The death of Jah’Meik Modlin, an innocent four-year-old child, is a tragedy that has scarred this city,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Wednesday. “That he died a slow and painful death, starving alongside his older siblings, somehow isolated in the heart of Harlem, is a stain on our collective conscience.”
“Today his parents are indicted for allegedly killing him through extreme physical neglect and persistent abuse with depraved indifference for his life,” he continued. “Our Child Abuse Bureau is working diligently to secure justice for Jah’Meik and to support his three siblings during this immensely difficult process. If you are aware of severe neglect or abuse, please call 911 in an emergency, or contact us at 212-335-4308.”
Attorney information for the couple wasn’t clear.
The child’s extended family has continued to say they didn’t know about the living conditions inside the home — but ACS did. They say they plan to sue.
The agency referred any questions regarding the cased to the city’s legal department.
Last month, Mayor Eric Adams commented on Jahmeik’s death and ACS, saying, “I know we have a group of hard working professionals that don’t want to disrupt families, but would like to go in and take necessary steps to protect children…all of us feel pain that something like this happened.”
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