A baby was thrown to her death from a sixth-floor window in a Bronx apartment block on Thursday, witnesses and police said.
Six-month old Janillah Lawrence was the third child in three months to die after being thrown out of an apartment window in New York City. She was with her mother, Tenisha Fearon, 27, and three other children at the time, police told the Associated Press.
Fearon was taken from the apartment, in the Fordham Heights neighborhood, to a hospital for evaluation. She was later arrested and charged with murder.
On Friday, as Fearon was arraigned and held without bail, a judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation. Judge Kim Wilson also ordered medical attention for Fearon and protective custody.
Fearon’s attorney, representing her for arraignment only, asked that she be placed in protective custody only if necessary, because he did not want her to be “isolated”.
Neighbors said they watched Fearon dangle the baby outside her apartment window. Numerous 911 callers said they watched as the baby was thrown.
Lizette Rodriguez, a neighbor, said Fearon shouted: “I’m going to throw her. We’re all gonna die.”
Others on the street said they had tried to warn Fearon not to throw the baby.
Rodriguez called 911. She said she heard Janillah hit the ground.
Fearon and the three children – a 10-year-old boy, an eight-year-old girl and a three-year-old girl – were naked, and Fearon was hitting her window, said Gregorio Lopez, a nextdoor neighbor.
The other children were not injured and were later placed with New York City’s child welfare agency. The administration for children’s services said it was investigating and working to ensure the wellbeing of the three children.
Last month, a newborn girl was found dead in the University Heights area of the Bronx. Her mother was arrested on murder and manslaughter charges, for allegedly throwing her child to her death from a seventh-story window.
In August, a Queens woman was arrested in connection with the death of her one-month-old son, who was thrown from a fourth-floor window.
Both women have pleaded not guilty.
