What to Know
- Three-year-old Zoey Pereira is dead after she found in a burning car in Queens Sunday night, officials said
- Authorities were called around 9 p.m. to a car fire at the intersection of Baisley and Rockaway boulevards in Springfield Gardens
- The girl's 39-year-old father was taken into custody; no charges have yet been filed, but officials have said the case is now a homicide
Police are calling a 3-year-old girl's death in Queens a homicide after she was found in a burning car that had its doors chained shut from the inside and the girl's father was taken into custody.
The NYPD identified the girl as Zoey Pereira, of Queens.
She died Sunday at a hospital after police found her, critically injured, in a blazing Audi near Baisley and Rockaway boulevards in Springfield Gardens. The medical examiner's office later ruled her death a homicide.
A memorial with candles and balloons is growing in the area.
Officers then discovered a 39-year-old man, later said to be the father of the girl, covered in burns, in a nearby park. He's in custody and hospitalized.
No charges have been filed thus far. Medical examiners are working to determine the cause of the girl's death, and police are investigating the circumstances.
The investigation is ongoing.
