The death of an 11-month-old girl in the Bronx in August has been ruled a homicide after investigators determined she drowned in her bathtub, authorities and officials announced Friday.
According to police, Little Jazeri was arrested on Aug. 14 at approximately 7:40 p.m. when NYPD responded to a 911 call at the family's apartment on West Farms Road near Boone Avenue in Crotona Park East. Mirabal was said to have lost consciousness and was unresponsive.
She was taken to Lincoln Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Friday that Jazeri's death was a homicide, law enforcement officials said, adding that she was found in the bathtub.
Both of Jazeri's parents were being investigated by the city's Department of Children's Services, officials said.
Neighbors said in August that the baby was “purple” and lying on the floor just inside the apartment's front door when the mother ran in for help.
“I heard screaming. I was the first one to come out. She was knocking on the door,” one neighbor recalled. “She was asking for help. She was saying, 'Help, my baby is dying.'”
Another neighbor who lived on the same floor of the building said Jazeri lived with her mother and two older sisters, but her father did not live there and was not home at the time of her death. That's what it means.
Neighbors said the child's mother had a rocky relationship with her boyfriend, who stopped visiting her after they had frequent fights last year.
By Friday, neither parent had been charged in connection with Jazeri's death.
Jazeri becomes the fourth infant in the city this month whose death has been ruled a homicide.
Four-month-old Ariel Gonzalez was found dead inside his Eagle Avenue home in Mott Haven on Aug. 10, and authorities determined he died of cocaine intoxication, authorities said.
Also, Joseph Heben Jr., a 1-month-old boy from Staten Island who died on July 20, was found to have starved to death, authorities announced last week.
Joseph, of Tottenville, died from “complications of severe malnutrition,” the city medical examiner's office determined.
No arrests have been made in either incident.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona
