The parents of a 3-month-old girl found dead in a trash bag in a wooded area off the Major Deegan Expressway have been indicted in the infant's killing.
Damion Comager, accused of shaking the baby to death, and Ivana Paolozzi placed her inside a stroller and wheeled her out of the Bronx homeless shelter they were staying in before dumping the body in a bag not far from Yankee Stadium, prosecutors for the borough say.
Details of the indictment against Comager, 23, and Paolozzi, 20, allege the parents placed 3-month-old Genevieve Comager inside a plastic bag and abandoned the infant in the wooded area in late May. The medical examiner's office has ruled the case a homicide.
Comager's charges in the indictment include murder, manslaughter, tampering with evidence and concealing a human corpse. Paolozzi faces the same charges of tampering with evidence and concealing a corpse.
Three law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the investigation have said neither parent is from New York City -- he's originally from Louisiana, she's from Switzerland. They met in Europe about a year ago. Paolozzi came to the U.S. in December and gave birth in February, the officials said. It wasn't clear how long they had been staying at the shelter.
Sources confirmed shelter staff said both had been there with a newborn, but checked out suddenly on May 16 without the infant. According to the law enforcement officials, that was two days after Comager allegedly killed baby Genevieve -- though he didn't confess to a relative for another 13 days, they said. The relative asked for a welfare check the day after that call, which is what led to the grisly discovery off the highway Sunday evening.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Prosecutors said the couple lied to a child protective specialist who called the parents a day before their arrest on May 29. Each is accused of telling the specialist that they had relocated with the baby girl, alive and well, to Louisiana.
News
According to sources, Comager allegedly told authorities he shook the baby and hit her because she wouldn't stop crying. She ended up dying, and the couple allegedly disposed of the body together, they added. A stroller they used to bring the infant's body to the area next to the pedestrian bridge was found nearby, the law enforcement officials said.
The baby's cause of death needs further study, the medical examiner's office said, but did confirm she had been killed.
Attorney information for the parents was not known. They are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 12.
