The mother of a 4-year-old boy who was found dead in a Times Square apartment last week with burns and cuts on his body is applying for government funding for funerals for crime victims so the child can be properly buried, NBC 4 New York has learned. 

According to a published report, the body of Myls Dobson remains unclaimed in the city morgue, while his father, Okee Wade, who had sole custody, is jailed in New Jersey on charges in an unrelated case.

"I had full custody and the homicide detectives said that they can't release the body without me," Wade told a judge in Atlantic County this week, according to the Daily News. 

The boy's caregiver, 27-year-old Kryzie King, was arraigned last Friday on assault and reckless endangerment charges. Prosecutors said the child had been tortured and starved in the three weeks he was in King's custody.

Last week, Myls' mother, Ashlee Dobson, and her supporters blasted the court's decision to give custody of the child to his father. They said the court made the decision because she was living in the shelter system and the boy's father had more money.  

Court officials pushed back at that charge Tuesday, saying the decision had nothing to with Myls' mom being in the shelter.

"There were very serious concerns about the ability of Myls' mother to care for him," said David Bookstaver, a court spokesman. "Myls' mother agreed she was not fit to be the custodian and upon consent of the mother the father was given custody."

Court records obtained by NBC 4 New York show Myls' mother suffered from severe mental health issues and that she had faced abuse allegations.

Myls' father was on parole when he got custody of the child. Child welfare officials are questioning whether someone should have checked in with the parole officer before closing the boy's case.

And as part of the investigation ordered by Mayor de Blasio, city Administration for Children's Services officials are looking into whether some sort of criminal record review should be conducted before a case is closed.