New York

Upstate NY Father Charged With 6-Week-Old Baby's Overdose Death

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What to Know

  • An upstate New York man is charged with manslaughter in the death of his 6-week-old son
  • The infant died after possibly ingesting methamphetamine, police said Thursday
  • Anthony Ojeda, 38, also faces an assault charge after he told police he squeezed Eli Ojeda-Harmon and broke his ribs

An upstate New York man is charged with manslaughter in the death of his 6-week-old son, who died after possibly ingesting methamphetamine, police said Thursday.

Anthony Ojeda, 38, also faces an assault charge after he told police he squeezed the infant, named Eli Ojeda-Harmon, and broke his ribs when the child was only 2 weeks old, said Detective Lt. Jason Johnston of the Cohoes Police Department.

Johnston said EMS workers were called to Ojeda's home in Cohoes, near Albany, on Tuesday. Ojeda initially said the child had woken up from a nap and thrown up.

The baby was taken to Albany Medical Center, where he died.

Under questioning, Ojeda told police that he believed the child had ingested meth. Ojeda admitted that he had failed to call for help promptly, Johnston said.

"That's what he believed happened. He failed to get emergency medical services for the baby," Johnston said, adding that toxicology reports on the child have not been completed.

Ojeda also told police that he had squeezed the baby in early November and believed he had broken the child's ribs, Johnston said. An autopsy determined the child was in fact healing from a rib fracture when he died, the detective said.

Ojeda was arraigned Wednesday on second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault charges and was being held on $100,000 bail.

The Albany County Public Defender's Office, which is representing him, declined to comment.

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