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More Questions About 3-Year-Old's Brutal Death
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 9, 2008
Modified Jun 9, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 9, 2008
Modified Jun 9, 2008
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The terrible death of a 3-year-old child while under the case of his godmother and her boyfriend has Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbors reeling. Kyle Smith was declared dead on Friday, after an attempt by EMS to save him. The ME's office found he had a broken leg, a broken pelvis, bruises, signs of being sodomized with a wooden stick, and cigarette burns all over his body.
Godmother Nymeem Cheatham, who had been caring for Kyle for 18 months, and her boyfriend Lemar Martin were arrested over the weekend. While Administration of Children's Services said it was never involved with the boy's case, the Daily News has another story:
[O]n Jan. 2, Kyle's grandmother Norma Acosta, 45, called cops to complain that her son was being prevented from seeing Kyle. Police sources said she also told the ACSthat she thought her grandson was being mistreated.
Cops called the ACS, which interviewed Acosta, the sources said, noting that she then shared her concerns about abuse with the agency.
Sharman Stein, a spokeswoman for the city agency, said she was unable to confirm whether her agency interviewed Acosta.
Kyle was removed from his crack-addicted mother's custody, and though his father petitioned for custody, the court decided to grant Cheatham custody. (A lawyer for Martin says both parents gave up rights to the boy.) Prosecutors say that Cheatham hit him "with her hands and a brush and put him in cold water" while Martin would strike him and make him repeatedly "do pushups and march in place." The pair were charged with a number of counts, including felony assault, and are being held without bail.
Neighbors are now regretful they didn't do something when they saw the boy in troubling tableaus. One neighbor recalled hearing Cheatham yelling at the child, "Why are you still f---ing crying? Shut the f--k up. ... Do you want me to take you back inside?" and another saw him dressed in only a tank top and pajama shorts in 15-degree weather, while Cheatham was wearing a parka.
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Administration for Children's Services
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brooklyn
child abuse
Kyle Smith
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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