A man has been arrested after a 10-year-old boy was found beaten and unconscious inside his New York City apartment.
Police were called to the apartment at 260 West 131st Street in Harlem on Saturday and responding officers found family members performing CPR on Ayden Wolfe. The young boy had cuts and bruises all over his body, according to law enforcement sources.
The boy was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. They say the boy was beaten to death by 34-year-old Ryan Cato, the boy's stepfather.
Cato was charged Sunday with murder and endangering the welfare of a child.
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Neighbors who have seen the family around the NYCHA complex say they were distraught by the news.
"The family told me he was a lovely little kid. They just had him with them a week ago. They didn't say anything, any inkling, any kind of physical harm or anything," said Stephanie McGraw.
While an investigation into exactly what happened to the boy is ongoing, the community was horrified by the loss of the boy and many fear the pandemic has made domestic violence too easy to miss.
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Ayden's mother, who has not been identified, was in police custody as of Sunday night. She was being questioned at the police precinct but she is not being charged at this time, an NYPD spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the exact cause of the boy's death with be determined by the city's medical examiner.
