Carlos Rios Jr. (Photo courtesy: Rios family)
NEW YORK (CBS 2) — In the Bronx, a mother is in police custody, accused of giving her son a deadly dose of drugs, including methadone.
The family of 6-year-old Carlos Rios Jr. said his drug-addicted mother gave him a mix of her methadone and Nyquil. They say it killed him.
CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman spoke exclusively with members of the family, including the boy’s maternal grandmother, who two hours early was part of the group that made the difficult decision to take the boy off life support.
“As soon as he got sick, he was dizzy, he got in coma and he died,” distraught Letty Muentes said.
Guzman spoke to another grandmother who was angry at her daughter and angry at the child welfare agency, Administration for Children’s Services. The family said it went to ACS at least twice for help.
“ACS didn’t do their job. If they would have done their job, this wouldn’t have happened,” Mildred Reyes said.
In a statement, ACS said: “The Administration for Children’s Services received the report of the terribly sad death of the 6-year-old boy in the Bronx, and along with the NYPD, our staff is investigating what led to this tragedy.”
The boy’s father, Carlos Rios, was still numb from taking his only child off life support.
“He was a good boy. He liked to paint. He was a good artist, fun kid. It’s a tragedy to have me go through this,” Rios said.
The mother, Raquel DeLeon, is being held by police. Sources said — pending an autopsy — she is being charged with criminally negligent homicide for the death of her son.
The family said it also tried to get help from the child’s school, but that nothing happened. CBS 2′s calls to the school went unanswered.
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