The father of a 4-year-boy who died in Harlem over the weekend has been charged, one day after the mother’s arrest, police say.
Laron Modlin, 25, is charged with criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child. The mother, Nytavia Ragsdale, 26, is facing the same after their son was found unconscious and unresponsive inside their apartment on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard Sunday night. He died at a nearby hospital.
“It breaks our heart any time a child is abused any time a child is harmed,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “We’re going to do everything we can to give parents the support that they deserve and make those calls when we have to remove these children out of homes.”
Police sources tell NY1 that 4-year-old Jahmeik Modlin was malnourished and neglected. Sources also say Ragsdale has three other children who are currently in the care of another family member.
“Think about it. Four years of maltreatment and malnourishment to the point of death. That would be torture,” Rafael Mangual, of the Manhattan Institute, said.
Jahmeik is the sixth child to die in the city in the last three months — the most recent happened in August when an 11-month-old girl was found dead in the Bronx. Sources say the Administration for Children’s Services did have a history with Jahmeik’s family. Advocates say ACS should’ve done more to protect him.
“It’s incredibly tragic. It’s another young life lost, and it’s hard to resist the idea that this is a preventable death. Why? Because we do know the child services have been in contact with this family before. The question is, why didn’t they intervene?” Mangual said.
According to the most recent data from 2022, ACS received more than 59,000 reports alleging child maltreatment in the city. A total of 74 child deaths were investigated that year — 39 of which were in families known to ACS. Of those 39 fatalities, sources say eight died of natural causes and another eight were deemed accidents by the Medical Examiner.
“At the end of the day, these children need somebody to fight for them,” Mangual said.
In a statement, an ACS spokesperson said, “We take every opportunity to learn and improve our work and have done so in a number of ways over the past few years by reducing caseloads among frontline staff to well below the national standard.”
According to the Medical Examiner, additional testing and investigative information is needed before making a final determination on the boy’s cause of death.