The parents of a 4-year-old boy who died after falling ill at a Brooklyn family shelter, have been charged with drug possession and child abandonment, police said Thursday.
Cops initially suspected the boy died from exposure to fentanyl but a preliminary exam indicated sort of viral infection killed him.
The child became ill at the Women In Need (WIN) shelter on Glenwood Road near Schenectady Ave. in East Flatbush about 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The parents called the volunteer local Hatzoloh ambulance corps before calling 911, then were seen hiding a fanny pack of drugs, which included fentanyl, inside their car parked outside the shelter.
The volunteer EMTs took the child to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died several hours later.
Miriam Elkayam, 26, and Witzchok Sklar, 32, were taken in for questioning and later criminally charged for the drugs and abandoning the boy.
The child’s name has not yet been released.
The child was awake when he was rushed to the hospital. The infection was not measles, sources said.
A spokeswoman for the city’s Medical Examiner’s office said a preliminary exam could not determine what killed the child and further studies were required.
After calling 911, the father removed a fanny pack with drugs from the room and secured it in his car, according to police. Cops recovered the drugs after a brief investigation.
“It’s sad because why do you even have that in the presence of a child,” a woman who lives at the shelter and gave her name as Jay told the Daily News Wednesday. “Why do you even have that in the apartment? it’s a danger to everybody.”
The parents were awaiting arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Thursday.