Home of starving NYC boy had locked cabinets with food: prosecutors

NEW YORK (PIX11) – The Harlem home where 4-year-old Jahmeik Modlin lost consciousness before later dying at a hospital had food locked away in cabinets, prosecutors said Thursday.

Prosecutors said a refrigerator in the home contained unspoiled food and was turned to the wall, according to a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors also said cabinets had food secured with child locks.

On Sunday, police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious child in a home on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard around 7:45 p.m. The child’s father had called 911 and then left the house, sources told PIX11 News.

Modlin later died at a local hospital. He was 19 pounds when he died and was suffering from chronic malnutrition, dehydration, and starvation, according to the city’s medical examiner.

Police suspect the boy’s mother, 26-year-old Nytavia Ragsdale , was starving him to death, sources told PIX11 News.

Ragsdale and the boy’s father, 25-year-old Laron Modlin , have been charged with second-degree manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, according to court documents.

Police also took Ragsdale’s three other children to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation. All of them were severely malnourished, officials said.

Ragsdale and Modlin claim they were feeding their son and other children and never limited their food intake, according to the criminal complaint.

Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here .

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