1-Month-Old Baby’s Starvation Death Ruled a Homicide by N.Y. Medical Examiner

Mar. 15, 2025

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On July 20, a Staten Island infant, who has since been identified as Joseph Heben Jr., was taken to an area hospital due to severe malnutrition, theNew York Timesreported on Wednesday, Nov. 6, citing police reports.

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“As soon as this family came to our attention this summer,” New York’s Administration for Children’s Services began working with police to conduct an investigation, Stephanie Gendell, a spokeswoman for the agency, said in a statement.

Due to state laws, Gendell was also unable to confirm if the victim’s relatives had a history with New York’s Administration for Children’s Services, according to theTimes.

“A helpless child. An innocent child, like, really? Come on. It’s terrible,” a man who worked near the apartment complex in the Tottenville area where the 1-month-old lived told theNew York Daily News.

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The man, who did not give theDaily Newshis name, told the outlet that Joseph had an older sister who seemed well cared for.

“Whenever I saw her with her daughter … very nice, and the kid was always smiling,” he said of the mother and her young children. “I don’t know the inner workings of their family or whatever they’re doing in their abode, but they seem to be normal people.”

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“This neighborhood is safe,” Tham Kshetry, a father of two children who works at the deli below Joseph’s apartment, told theTimes. “When I heard what happened upstairs, I felt bad.”

NYPD tells PEOPLE the investigation is ongoing.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com