The Queens DA's Office announced that Larry Greene, 20, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly punching and causing the death of his seven-month-old son Xiah. Greene, who had been babysitting his son, brought the unconscious baby to the New York Hospital Queens on Tueday. The child was pronounced dead and Green initially said he dropped the baby, but later admitted that he punched Xiah in the chest because he had been crying. Prosecutors also say that he told Xiah to "toughen up" and that Greene was allegedly upset because the baby seemed to like his mother more.
The ME's office found numerous injuries, including "cluster of five bruises on his chest consistent with knuckle marks." DA Richard Brown said, “This is, sadly, the ninth incident that we have seen in Queens County within the last five months in which a caregiver is accused of violently assaulting and, or, killing a child, and it ironically comes right on the heels of April being National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The fragility of a small child cannot be emphasized enough. There is no excuse for these senseless attacks. The defendants in these cases must be severely punished."
DA Brown's office also said that an eight-month-old boy, Mario Patrice, died on April 9, after being admitted to Schneider Children’s Hospital with Shaken Baby Syndrome on April 5. Mario had been kept on life support, and organs were donated. The boy's father Saul Cortez was charged with first-degree assault, but now the charges will be upgraded.
The Queens DA's office also detailed the seven other horrible incidents where children were victimized—a 5-year-old's skull was fractured after allegedly being shoved by his mother's boyfriend, 19-month-old was allegedly killed by her mother's boyfriend, a 13-week-old suffered brutal injuries (17 fractured ribs, a lacerated liver) allegedly at the hands of her father, and more (PDF).
