The NYPD is probing the deaths of two infants, one who went into cardiac arrest in an East Harlem shelter yesterday afternoon and a second allegedly killed by her mother inside their home in Queens last night.
Cops say a 1-year-old male baby was found unconscious and struggling to breathe inside the Odyssey House shelter and drug-and-alcohol rehab center at 219 East 121st Street shortly after 1 p.m. yesterday. He was transported to Harlem Hospital, according to the NYPD, where he was pronounced dead.
The Medical Examiner's office is currently investigating the infant's cause of death, but cops say there were no signs of trauma. The Post reports that he had been taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with an upper respiratory infection on Monday. Neither the baby nor his mother have been identified yet.
Also yesterday, police arrested Shangbo Xiangshengjie, 33, in connection with the death of her 1-year-old daughter, Sanggye Lhakyi. Cops say they found Sanggye dead with neck trauma on a bed inside the apartment she shared with her mother, at 87-19 Elmhurst Avenue in Queens, at around 6 p.m. yesterday. Xiangshengjie was arrested at the scene and has been charged with murder—PIX 11 reports that the infant was strangled.
A neighbor who used to babysit for Sanggye told the Post that Xiangshengjie had recently lost her job. "Last time we saw the baby was almost a month ago," the neighbor, Prabina Shilpakar, told the tabloid. "[The mom] said she can take care of the baby herself, since she lost her job."
