A 3-year-old boy was found dead — with broken teeth and bruises all over — in his Bronx apartment late Thursday, cops said.
Little Messiah Allen’s stepfather, 36, called 911 when he found the tot unconscious inside his Bruckner Boulevard apartment in the Sotomayor Houses in Soundview around 11:30 p.m.
Allen was discovered with broken teeth and bruises all over his face and body, police sources said.
The boy’s stepfather frantically performed CPR before authorities arrived, cops said. The toddler was rushed to Jacobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police questioned the boy’s stepfather and mother — who was at work at the time — about the incident on Friday morning. They were released later that day without being charged, police said.
Allen’s stepfather claimed the boy was injured about a week ago when he fell out of his stroller, police sources said.
A neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, said she heard from Allen’s mother that he “threw himself out of the stroller” during a temper tantrum.
The tot’s mom took him to the hospital after the fall, but he was still feeling sick when they got home, the neighbor said.
“[His stepfather] went to take him to use the bathroom. He was still lightheaded and he fainted,” she said. “He called 911. He tried to do CPR on him. He tried to put some water on him.”
“But he wasn’t waking up.”
Althea Johnson, the child’s godmother, questioned whether the fall from the stroller caused the baby’s death.
“[I] raised two kids, and I don’t know no kid falling out of the stroller sitting in the house and their teeth is knocked out of their mouth and he got a big old bruise on his head,” she said. She identified Allen’s mother as Erica Fox. “According to Erica, she took him to the hospital, they prescribed him some medicine and they went home. And that was the last I knew.”
“Here it is three days later, I get the phone call.”
Johnson said the couple has been together less than a year. She remembered the toddler as a “happy-go-lucky little boy.”
The city Medical Examiner’s office will determine the cause of death. Police are still investigating the incident.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore.
