The horror was unimaginable as EMS technicians responded to a 911 call no one ever wants to receive — a report of an unconscious child.
When the police got to the dirty Harlem apartment, they found a 4-year-old boy who weighed only 19 pounds and was not moving or breathing. Not far away were his three older brothers, who were also just skin and bones.
And in the kitchen, there was another sad sight: cabinets full of food that were locked to keep children out, and a fridge that was full but turned toward the wall so the kids could not open it.
This was the terrible farm where Jahmeik Modlin’s short and sad life took place and ended in tears. The child died in a local hospital hours after passing out last Sunday night from being malnourished and beaten.
Prosecutors said that his parents did not feed their family and let their youngest son waste away and die even though there was plenty of food available. This was a cruel act that shocked neighbors and the whole Harlem community.
Among the people who lived on the same stretch of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. near W. 145th St. as the children, a 27-year-old woman said, “I think she should go to prison because that is like a horrible thing.”
“They were good lives.” These things did not ask to be here. You could give your kids to family, take them to the hospital, or anything else if you did not want them or could not take care of them. It is crazy. “It is sad.”
As the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jahmeik’s crying paternal grandmother put a white and blue cross-shaped wreath next to a makeshift memorial outside the child’s home on Saturday. The memorial was full of small teddy bears, a Minnie Mouse doll, votive candles, and message of love.
A note written by hand said, “You are now in God’s hands.” “Enough bad things, no more hurt, no pain.”
When Shapton hugged the grandmother and held her shaking hand with one arm, the grandmother sobbed into his chest.
When the small group of mourners got back to the National Action Network’s House of Justice, which was only a short walk away, the grandmother started crying again. She was so upset that she had to sit on a nearby stoop to calm down.
The woman, whose name was only given as “Miss Jones,” kept crying as a van pulled up to take her and her family the rest of the way.
Jahmeik died at Harlem Hospital on Wednesday. Her son, Laron Modlin, was arrested and charged with criminally negligent murder and endangering the welfare of a child.
Modlin, who is 25 years old, is the real father of Jahmeik and two of the children who are still alive.
Police say Modlin was caught after he hid from them for two days. Nytavia Ragsdale, 26, was arrested and charged with similar crimes on Monday. She is the mother who is accused of one of the worst cases of child abuse and neglect in the city.
According to court documents, Modlin said he must not have seen Jahmeik’s state because “he often plays video games or was on his phone.”
Stephanie McGraw, founder of the local nonprofit We All Really Matter that helps victims of domestic abuse, says that Modlin’s mother is ready to care for the children who are still alive once they get the all-clear from their doctors.
Outside of the House of Justice, McGraw said, “She is fully available, ready, able, and healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally to take her three little grandchildren.” “One had to leave, but there are three more here who will live.”
The singer said, “That baby’s life will not have been in vain.” “He kept his other three siblings safe.”
Sharpton said he would lead Jahmeik’s funeral if his grandma did not have a preacher available to pray over the body.
He said, “Jahmeik is a wake-up call to this city, and we should not let this happen.” There was a child’s death “right down the block” from his buildings, he added.
“There can not be a House of Justice and a 4-year-old kid in our neighborhood who is dying of hunger,” he said. “As a community, we need to support each other through our pain and use our own pain to stop someone else’s pain.”
Sharpton said, “I truly believe that this young boy did not deserve to die of hunger.”
Sharpton also said that Modlin’s mental sickness, which was brought up by his lawyer at his arraignment, might have had something to do with the child’s death.
Sharpton told Miss Jones, “He should have had some help.” “And we should all stand with you to say that what happened to Jahmeik should never happen again, and your son should never be caught behind it.”
When Modlin was put on trial, the prosecutors talked about a “house of horrors” where feces were on the walls of one room. They also said that the boy’s poop was stuck in his hair.
Even more upsetting information came out in court: the kitchen cabinets were locked and the fridge was turned so that the kids could not get to any food.
The 27-year-old neighbor remembered with anger how the boy’s mother never seemed to miss a meal while she sat outside the building smoking small cigars and eating.
The woman said, “She would sit on the steps outside the building and smoke Black & Milds.” “It is crazy that you are eating when you can not feed your kids.”
She would always sit on this stoop right here. She was going to eat and drink. What did they do? What she did to her kids is still wrong.
The 19-pound weight of Jahmeik was 3 pounds less than when he and his siblings were last seen by a doctor in 2022, and it was less than half of what a 4-year-old kid should weigh.
He was also very cold and had very bad eczema on his skin. Officials say that at first, EMTs and NYPD cops who were there thought it was burn marks.
The only good thing about the other kids was that they were still living. Officials said that Jahmeik’s three younger brothers, ages 5, 6, and 7, were also not getting enough food.
They are in the hospital and being cared for by the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, so they can not eat solid food right now.
Attorneys for Jahmeik say he was so hungry that he ate his own puke.
She was on her way to buy a candle to add to the makeshift shrine for Jahmeik that had been set up outside the building. “I am a mother, you know what I mean?” asked Audrey Lamar, 59.
“There were more deaths than just a boy.” He lived with his siblings, who were also his brothers. And they were all not getting enough food.
People in the neighborhood said they saw her eating on the steps all the time. You should not be able to eat and not feed your kids. “I really do not understand that.”
She said Lamar has been through a lot and was a single mom on welfare.
She said, “People go through things.” “These kids are not going to school or getting medical care, though.” Do you get what I mean? If you can not get up, no matter how tired you are, and make sure your kid eats and goes to school, something is wrong.
Ragsdale was seen by a 60-year-old friend who lives on the same floor as the family. The neighbor said she did not know there were kids in the apartment.
The neighbor said, “We never saw the kids.” They are not crying or laughing that we can hear. “That is weird.”
A law enforcement official said that ACS had been to the home before to look into reports of malnutrition, but they did not find any proof of the claim.
A representative for the city’s Department of Investigation told the Daily News that the death of the child led to a preliminary review of how ACS handled the child’s case. This review could lead to a full investigation.
An NYPD chaplain named Robert Rice stopped by to check on the people living there on Friday. “You know the whole community is hurting,” he said. “The thing in question is happening right now.” A lot of people are trying to figure out what is going on.