Jagsheer Singh, 28, of Bayside, Queens, has been charged with first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly causing his four-month-old son to sustain life-threatening injuries, including brain damage. The child was injured on December 19 and died on Christmas Eve. It is expected that the charges will be upgraded, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
The baby’s mother, a radiologist, left the infant under the care of Singh when she left for work at approximately 8:30 pm on Dec. 19. When she returned home around 6:15 am after completing her shift at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, she went to bed without checking on the baby.
Singh told investigators that his son woke up at approximately 7:00 am and appeared normal. He claimed that he prepared a bottle, and thirty minutes later, found the infant covered in feces. Singh took him to the shower and afterward, says Singh, the baby fell off the changing table, which was approximately four feet high. Around 8 am, Singh observed the baby to be unresponsive and having difficulty breathing, so he woke up his wife and called 911.
The baby was taken to Flushing Hospital Medical Center and later transferred to Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where an examination revealed that the baby had suffered multiple severe skull fractures, widespread brain injury resulting from lack of oxygen, and retinal hemorrhages. Medical personnel found the baby’s injuries inconsistent with a short fall from a changing table but rather consistent with the non-accidental abusive head trauma. Further, based on the nature and severity of the injuries, it was determined that the baby’s symptoms of unresponsiveness and difficulty breathing would have occurred immediately after the infliction of the injuries.
Singh’s bail was set at $200,000, and his next court date is Dec. 31. If convicted on the current charges, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Approximately 9% of city deaths in children under 14 years of age are due to assault, according to New York city and state criminal justice statistics. Last year, Queens County reported 977 cases of domestic violence whereby victims were classified as “other family victims,” i.e. outside the “intimate male/female partnership.”
By Eugénie Bisulco
