Death of Infant Boy Found Outside Queens Apartment Building Ruled Homicide: Medical Examiner

The death of a newborn boy found with severe head trauma in an apartment building courtyard in Queens has been ruled a homicide, the city's medical examiner says. 

One-month-old Rizwan Ahmad was pronounced dead outside the building on 115th Street in Richmond Hill Friday morning. Police had been investigating whether the baby had fallen, was thrown out of a window or was left on the ground. 

The baby, who was wearing a onesie, was discovered on the ground. His injuries were severe, police said.

The medical examiner's office said Friday the death was ruled a homicide, caused by blunt impact of head and torso with skull fractures and lacerations of brain, liver and spleen. It's not clear if those injuries were from a fall or from some type of assault.

It's also not clear whether he was alive in the courtyard before dying.

Neighbor Mazol Ilyayeva had found the baby and called 911. 

"I step out and hear [a sound] like a book was thrown out the window," she told NBC 4 New York. "For some reason, something told me inside to go downstairs, and then I see that." 

Police took several family members in for questioning. Other children are living in the home where the baby lived, authorities say, but they're not believed to be siblings; it's thought to be an extended-living situation, city officials told NBC 4 New York.

Police say no arrests have been made. Investigators are not aware of any previous history of abuse in the family, city authorities said. 

Neighbors said the family living in the apartment is quiet and rarely talked to others. 

"It was very, very hard for us this morning. Terrible. It's hard to believe, a baby that little," said one woman who only gave her name as Eve. 

Ilyayeva is a new mother herself and said she's disturbed.

"It's a newborn. I have a newborn, he's two and a half months, and seeing that is just horrible," she said. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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