A mom and dad facing charges in connection with the death of their infant son on Staten Island admitted to cops they waited more than two weeks to get him medical help after he was severely burned by hot grease in a kitchen mishap.
By the time Jenice Lightfoot and Leonard Thompson finally called 911 on Saturday, their infant son was in cardiac arrest and no longer had a pulse, according to authorities. The boy was declared dead at a local hospital less than an hour later.
“I was worried that if I made a report or told you the truth you would take him away,” Lightfoot, 36, told cops after finally seeking medical care for the baby Saturday, according to a criminal complaint.
The boy’s father blamed his newborn’s older brother for sparking the fatal April 11 injury.
“I was cooking and holding the baby in my left arm,” Thompson, 38, told authorities, according to a court filing.
“The 4-year-old child kicked a toy and it hit the pan on the stove and knocked the pan over and as I was walking by the stove with the baby the grease hit the baby. We put medicine and gauze on the baby for two weeks but we never got medical care. I thought he could be treated at home.”
Both parents are charged with reckless endangerment and acting in a manner injurious to a child and are being held on bail at Rikers Island — Lightfoot on $50,000 and Thompson on $100,000. An initial autopsy conducted by the city medical examiner was inconclusive, and determination of the baby’s cause of death is pending further study.
A 911 call came from the family’s home in the West Brighton Houses at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. Medics tried CPR before rushing the infant to the hospital, according to police.
Doctors at Richmond University Medical Center tried reviving him for 40 minutes, but he never regained a pulse, cops said. The baby suffered second- or third-degree burns to his left arm, wrist and neck, according to court papers.
On Monday, two uniformed NYPD cops stood guard outside the family’s apartment on Broadway near Henderson Ave., preventing anyone from entering the home.
Lightfoot proudly posted pictures of the baby on Instagram after his birth, calling him her “sonshine.”
“I’m in love all over again,” she captioned a photo of the boy with his parents in the delivery room just after his arrival.
Neighbors and family are baffled by the baby’s death, saying Lightfoot was a model parent.
“She is a good mom. She takes care of her kids very well,” said Antonia Lightfoot, 25, who told the Daily News that Jenice Lightfoot helped raise her. “She was very nice. Always sweet, always looking out. Always making sure we ate.”
“I was happy when I heard the news that she was pregnant again,” she added.
Lightfoot’s nephew, who gave his name as Pete, said he had yet to meet the newborn, who was born with breathing problems .
“Jenice loves her children and did the best she could,” the nephew said. “She was more than excited to be a new mom. However, upon hearing the child had complications at birth, I elected to wait until he was stronger before making a visit.”
Lawyers for the mom and dad said more facts will emerge.
“All I can say is my office is still investigating exactly what took place and what, if any, involvement my client had in this terrible incident,” said Mark Fonte, Thompson’s attorney.
“Our office is currently undertaking a thorough investigation into the facts of this case and we ask the public not to rush to judgment until it’s complete,” said Louis Gelormino, Lightfoot’s lawyer. “Our prayers go out to the young child and the family.”
The couple is due back in Staten Island Criminal Court on Thursday.
A neighbor in the family’s building said the couple had moved in a month before the infant’s birth and Lightfoot was always with her 4-year-old son, a precocious, happy boy.
The newborn’s death shocked the neighbor.
“It caught me totally off-guard. I was devastated because nobody wants to hear that”, said the neighbor, who gave her name as Joan.
The neighbor said she had met the baby’s father once.
“They had the baby in the stroller. They had the newborn and their son,” said Joan, 54. “They showed us the baby. Beautiful little boy.”
