STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A grand jury has indicted a West Brighton couple after police responding to the death of their infant Saturday allege the baby had severe and untreated burns to his arm.
Leonard Thompson, 36, and Jenice Lightfoot, 38, are each facing a top count of first-degree reckless endangerment.
Emergency personnel discovered the 1-month-old boy unresponsive around 6:45 a.m., inside the couple’s apartment at 240 Broadway. The child was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton.
The defendants told police the child had previously suffered arm injuries when he was burned during a cooking accident, according to a criminal complaint.
Preliminary autopsy results revealed an undetermined cause of death, pending further testing.
The defendants appeared together Thursday in Criminal Court.
As Lightfoot was escorted into the courtroom, she mouthed “I love you” to family who were seated in the gallery.
Both defendants will appear for arraignment on the felony charge in state Supreme Court, St. George, at which point the court could hear arguments on the bail amount.
Bail currently is set at $100,000 cash or $300,000 bond for Thompson, and $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond for Lightfoot.
Both are being held at Rikers Island, as of Thursday.
As they were led out of the courtroom, Thompson, who wore a leg brace and walked with the aid of a cane, shook his head as if in disbelief.
Records show he also has an open misdemeanor assault case, stemming from an altercation at a shelter with a 21-year-old man.
Lightfoot again turned toward family in the gallery, mouthing the words “I’m sorry.”
Officers responded around 6:45 a.m. Saturday, to a 911 call to an apartment at 240 Broadway, where they discovered an unresponsive infant inside the home. Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel
ALLEGED BURN WOUND
The deceased suffered two severe burn wounds about his left arm on or about April 11, and the defendants “failed to seek medical attention” until April 27, according to the complaint.
Staff at the hospital told police the burns were second or third degree, court documents allege.
Police said the couple made statements indicating the baby was accidentally injured.
“I was cooking and holding the baby in my left arm, and [another 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,” Thompson allegedly told the NYPD.
Lightfoot was quoted as saying: “It was a Thursday because we had people over on that day.”
Thompson said they tried to treat the baby at home with medicine and gauze.
Defense attorneys Mark J. Fonte and Louis Gelormino noted after the hearing Thursday that their clients “are not charged nor responsible for this poor child’s death.”
The results of an autopsy could lead to different charges, according to source with knowledge of the investigation.
Lightfoot told police she feared losing custody of the baby if she sought medical care.
“I was worried that if I made a report or told you the truth you would take him away,” she allegedly stated.
“She is a good mom; she takes care of her kids very well,” a relative, Antonia Lightfoot, 25, previously told the Daily News. “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.”
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