'No Kid Deserves To Die That Way': Father Of 2-Year-Old Mount Vernon Boy Faces Murder Charges In Child's Death
MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - The father of a Mount Vernon 2-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with the toddler's murder, officials said Tuesday.
The 2-year-old boy was found unconscious when his mother returned home Monday night.
A woman returning home found her 2-year-old unconscious. The boy was rushed to the hospital and later died.
"Mount Vernon police detectives immediately began searching for the child's father for questioning," said Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Shawn Harris. "Based on our preliminary investigation, moments ago Lloyd Scott was charged and booked with murder in the second degree for the death of one of God's angels."
Scott, 34, has no criminal history, officials said.
"This is another tragic situation that hurts beyond description," said Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas. "This toddler was taken away from us at the hands of someone that they trusted."
Thomas said the name of the child would remain undisclosed.
"My heart breaks for this family and the pain that they're going through," Thomas said.
The Medical Examiner would determine the cause of death.
"The tragic death of any human being is hard enough to deal with. But the death of a child, a toddler, is one of the hardest calls for a police officer to respond to and to investigate," Harris said. "Most of us are parents, and this hits home. Our prayers go out to the family, the friends and the loved ones of this young child."
Bags marked as "evidence" were carried out of 531 East Lincoln Avenue and loaded into an SUV around 8 a.m., about 12 hours after the terrible discovery inside an apartment.
"It's very sad. No kid deserves to die that way," said Anselme Woodart, who lives in the same building as the child. "And I pray to God to bring justice."
A neighbor told CBS2's Tony Aiello she lives in an apartment that shares a wall with the apartment where tragedy struck.
"You could hear the baby running, playing, crying in the morning, what not, but I never heard anything like screaming at the child or anything," Linda Duncan told Aiello.
Anyone with any additional information is asked to call the Mount Vernon Detective Division at 914-665-2510.
