By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday that Davien Reid Sr. has been indicted for the brutal beating of his 8-year-stepson after the boy was accused of eating brownies intended for Reid. Reid allegedly hit the child, picked him up, threw him to the ground and then repeatedly stomped on him, causing fractures to his neck and back and multiple internal injuries. When the boy vomited, Reid is alleged to have made him lick the vomit off the floor.
The child’s mother, Dayanara Vargas, was charged in a separate earlier incident for allegedly striking the same child on the head with a broom, which required the child to get staples on his scalp to close the wound.
Reid, 43, was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned Friday on an indictment charging him with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first and second degrees, intimidating a witness in the third degree, obstructing governmental administration in the second degree and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Vargas, 31, was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned Friday on charges of assault in the second degree, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and obstructing governmental administration in the second degree.
According to the charges and investigation, Davien Reid Sr. and Dayanara Vargas have been together for several years. Reid entered the relationship with three children and Vargas had two children. The couple also has two children in common.
Photo Courtesy of DA Katz
“It was brutal,” DA Katz said.
On April 24, 2024, Vargas called 911 and told police that her 8-year-old son was injured while fighting with his stepbrother.
Police responded to the home and found the child sitting on the bathroom floor with head trauma. His head was severely bruised and deformed with one eye swollen shut and bruises covering his back and arms.
The child was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries to his abdomen as well as with serious injuries to his head and spine. He had compression fractures on his neck and upper back, a subdural hematoma, ligament injuries in his neck, rectal bleeding, a laceration to his pancreas as well as intestinal and abdominal injuries.
He remained hospitalized for three weeks and required feeding tubes during part of that time. The child had to wear a cervical collar for his neck injuries for approximately five months.
The boy later disclosed to investigators that Reid had beaten him.
The child also disclosed that in November 2023, his mother struck him on the head with a broom which caused a gash that required several medical staples to close. The mother took the child to an urgent care facility where she lied to doctors about the cause of the injury.
All the children were removed from the home and placed into care shortly after police responded to the 911 call and removed the boy to the hospital.
“As alleged, these defendants inflicted unspeakable cruelty,” Katz said.
If convicted, Reid faces up to 25 years in prison; Vargas faces up to seven years.
