Queens Father Charged With Murder After Boy, 8, Found Dead In Home
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens father has been charged with second-degree murder after police said his 8-year-old son was found dead inside their home Sunday night.
Around 10 p.m., police were called for an emotionally disturbed person inside a home on Underhill Avenue in Fresh Meadows.
When officers arrived, they found 41-year-old Boujeke Kenmoe with self-inflicted wounds to his wrists, police said. Moments later, his 8-year-old son, Jerry, was found dead in a bedroom with marks on his neck, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Queens Father Charged With Murder
While he was being taken to the hospital, Kenmoe allegedly told EMS and police that he had choked his son and then tried to take his own life, Brown said.
"This is a horrifying case of a father accused of murdering his own son, a defenseless 8-year-old boy, by choking him to death," Brown said. "The defendant's actions, if true, are incomprehensible in a civilized society and must be severely punished."
It appeared the boy had been strangled earlier in the day, CBS 2's Weijia Jiang reported. Police said the boy's mother was not at home at the time.
One neighbor said she heard a scream coming from the home.
"I heard one scream and then I didn't hear anymore," neighbor Eleanor Blaha said. "It was like a child scream -- a loud noise I hadn't heard before."
But other neighbors said they're stunned because Kenmoe seemed to adore his son, who family friends said had just finished the third grade last week.
"I saw them every morning. I envied the guy. I said, 'what a loving father,'" said neighbor James Lana. "Then the mother would walk once in a while, would walk him back here holding hands, a perfect couple."
The investigation is ongoing.
Kenmoe was hospitalized in stable condition and is awaiting arraignment. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
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