The bodies of a mother and her 10-year-old son were recovered from a Bronx apartment Wednesday, police said.
It is unclear how long the bodies of Sharlene Santiago, 39, and her son, Brian, were in the New York City Housing Authority apartment (NYCHA), according to the New York Post. The mother was said to have potentially overdosed and was the only caregiver to her son, who was confined to a bed. Her son was reliant on a feeding tube and is believed to have starved to death.
Law enforcement sources say Santiago was facing several Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) cases. She had apparently had her child removed but he was later returned to her care.
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“If you investigate a parent and return a child who later dies, that is a crime and someone needs to be held accountable,” one investigator told the outlet. “You can’t hide behind bureaucracy: ACS needs a total overhaul. This happens too many times, and one time is too much because we are talking about defenseless children.” (RELATED: ‘Take Turns’: New York City Public Health Poster Says Doing Drugs Is Fine If Done Safely)
In another case on the same night, an 11-month-old girl was found drowned in a bathtub in the city, the NYPost reported. Both the girl’s mother and father have open ACS cases against them.
Medical examiners are working to conduct autopsies on all victims discussed in this story. NYCHA did not immediately return requests for comment on this story.
