The death of a 11-month-old Bronx girl in August was determined to be a homicide after investigators found that she drowned in a bathtub, according to authorities and sources on Friday.
Jazeli Mirabal was found unconscious and unresponsive when the NYPD received a 911 call around 7:40 p.m. on Aug. 14 at her family’s apartment on West Farms Road near Boone Avenue in Crotona Park East, the police said.
She was taken to Lincoln Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Jazeli’s death a homicide on Friday, with sources mentioning that she was discovered in a bathtub.
Both of Jazeli’s parents were previously investigated by the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, sources revealed at the time.
Neighbors described how in August, the baby was found “purple” and lying on the floor just inside the front door of the apartment while her mother sought help.
“I heard screaming. I was the first one out. She was knocking on the door,” one neighbor recalled. “She was calling for help. She was saying, ‘Help, my baby is dying.'”
Another neighbor on the same floor mentioned that Jazeli lived with her mother and two older sisters, but her father did not live there and was not present at the time of her death.
According to neighbors, the child’s mother had a tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend, who had stopped visiting after a physical altercation last year, and neither parent had been charged in connection with Jazeli’s death as of Friday.
Jazeli’s death is the fourth infant homicide in the city this month.
Another infant, 4-month-old Ariel Gonzalez, was found lifeless in his Eagle Avenue home in Mott Haven on Aug. 10, and authorities determined that he died of cocaine intoxication.
Additionally, 1-month-old Joseph Heben Jr. of Staten Island, who passed away on July 20, was found to have died from severe malnourishment according to the city Medical Examiner’s Office.
No arrests have been made in either of those cases.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona
