Police: NYC Infant Dead After Mom’s Boyfriend Bashed In Her Skull

A New York City infant has died after her mother’s boyfriend bashed in her skull during an assault, police say.

One-year-old Imani Mitchell died about a week after she was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where doctors had to remove a part of her skull following an alleged beating by her mother’s boyfriend, according to a report by the New York Post.

Prosecutors say the mother’s boyfriend, 19-year-old Jerome Thomas, “struck the child twice on the side of the head with a ‘heavy hand’” while he was watching her on August 28.

The child reportedly suffered “extensive subdural hemorrhaging on the right side of her head resulting in swelling and intracranial pressure causing brain herniation,” and had a surgery that involved removing a piece of her skull.

After a surgery that involved removing a piece of her skull and being placed on a ventilator, among other life-saving attempts, Mitchell succumbed to her injuries.

The infant was pronounced dead at the hospital on Friday, with authorities ruling her death a homicide.

Thomas was arrested on August 29. The 19-year-old was then charged with felony assault, reckless endangerment, and endangering the welfare of a child, a criminal complaint revealed. He is being held without bail on Rikers Island, and his charges may now be upgraded pending a grand jury indictment, police sources told the New York Post.

The criminal complaint added that the fatal attack occurred at around 9:30 p.m. in an apartment on Union Avenue near East 152nd Street in the Woodstock neighborhood, after Mitchell’s mother left the residence, leaving Thomas in charge of looking after the child.

Nicole LaCroix, a neighbor, told the New York Post the couple was new to the area, and that she had spent some time with them, “being helpful” and “showing them where some of the stores are and different things like that.”

“I held the baby, you know, because we spent a little time with each other. She was playing with my phone — she was an active one year old,” LaCroix said.

The neighbor went on to say that “arguments” could be heard coming from their apartment, and that she wished she would have “stepped in and helped.”

“They fight every night,” LaCroix said. “[I’ve heard] them argue every night since they moved here: ‘Fuck you bitch,’ and ‘Get the fuck out.’ Several times she put his clothes out, but they’d be back together the same day.”

Thomas is scheduled to appear in court September 18.

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.