22°
Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scparino, Jr. announced on Thursday that 23-year-old Yonkers resident Kenya Reed has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child for her role in the death of her son and the living environment she provided.
According to police, at approximately 8:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Reed’s co-defendant, Blair Robinson - who pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, a violent felony - brought a boy “in an unresponsive state,” with noticeable bruises on his body to St. John’s Riverside Hospital. Hospital personnel attempted, but were ultimately unable to ever revive the child and he was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m. that night.
The circumstance led to a police investigation, Scarpino said. When officers responded to investigate the victim’s home following the 2-year-old’s death, they discovered Reed and a 10-month-old child in a bedroom laying on a cold mattress with no sheets and a bottle of curdled milk next to her.
Scarpino noted that the child was dirty and suffering from diaper rash. The apartment was “filthy and unsanitary and rodent droppings were all over kitchen surfaces." Police also reported that there were bugs flying inside the refrigerator.
The 10-month-old was sent to the Westchester Medical Center for follow-up treatment and both parents were interviewed by police, with Robinson “minimizing his conduct,” stating that he only struck the child once in the buttocks, officials said.
Following an autopsy, the Westchester County Medical Examiner determined that the death was due to “blunt force trauma.” The 2-year-old had hemorrhages in his brain and internal organs. Scarpino said that there were approximately nine marks on his back that appeared to have been “pattern injuries caused by some kind of instrument he had been repeatedly struck with.”
Reed told police in Yonkers that she witnessed Robinson beat her son until he was unconscious, and detectives learned that Reed did nothing to stop the attack, Scarpino said on Friday. She did not contact 911, call an ambulance or seek medical attention.
Blair would later admit to police that he had kicked, whipped and beaten the child on the day of his death before taking a walk and going to work for approximately 90 minutes. He then returned to the Maple Avenue home to retrieve their son and bring him to the emergency room.
After being indicted, Reed surrendered herself in April after a warrant was issued by the court. She is due to be sentenced next month, where she will face a maximum possible sentence of one year on each of the misdemeanor charges of child endangerment.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Yonkers and receive free news updates.
