WNBC 4 – March 31, 2015
by Brynn Gingras
A mother has been arrested after her 1-year-old son died after being found unconscious and foaming at the mouth inside a burger restaurant bathroom in midtown, police say.
Latisha Fisher, 35, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of 20-month-old Gavriel Ortiz-Fisher, according to the NYPD.
Police and EMS were called to the 5 Boro Burger restaurant at 36th Street and Sixth Avenue for a report of a child in cardiac or respiratory arrest, according to authorities.
According to law enforcement sources, the mother had brought her son into the bathroom at the restaurant Monday afternoon, and when they didn’t emerge for awhile, a concerned employee went to check on them.
She found the unconscious toddler on his mother’s lap and called 911. Restaurant patron Chris Coffee said he had just ordered when he noticed the commotion outside the bathroom.
“I stand up for a minute and look over, and boy’s kind of hunched over and the mom’s in the bathroom,” he said. “I ask what’s going on, and the waitress said the mom’s locked herself in the bathroom.”
Witnesses said responding firefighters and EMS tried to administer CPR on the boy inside the restaurant, then rushed him out.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he died, police said. The cause of death has not yet been determined, but the medical examiner’s office is investigating.
The mother, who lives in lower Manhattan, was charged after speaking with police at the Midtown South precinct stationhouse. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney.
The 5 Boro Burger restaurant was closed to the public for the remainder of Monday as police investigated.
Police located the father, who was brought in to the 7th Precinct station to talk to police, and was very distraught, sources said.
Neighbors of the young boy were shocked.
“The baby was only a year and a half,” said Josefina de Leon. “How could she do that to the baby?”
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