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April 28, 2016 -- Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced today that Kenya Reed (DOB 02/06/95) of 44 Maple Ave/, Apartment 2-B, Yonkers, NY was arraigned on an indictment before Westchester County Court Judge Anne E. Minihan on Thursday, April 27, 2017 and charged with:
- two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class “A” Misdemeanor
in connection with an investigation into the death of her toddler son Alex Robinson (DOB 02/01/14) and the living environment that was discovered in their home on December 24, 2016.
On Dec. 24, 2016 at approximately 8:14 p.m., Reed’s co-defendant, Blair Robinson, the victim’s father, walked into the emergency room at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers carrying his 2 year old son and reported to the staff that the child was not breathing. Hospital personnel observed that the child was lifeless and had no pulse. Hospital personnel were never able to revive the child and he was pronounced dead at approximately 9:25 p.m.
Although it was not readily apparent what caused the child’s death, hospital personnel did observe bruises on his back and notified the Yonkers Police Department. When police went to the victim’s home following the child’s death, they located his mother, Kenya Reed and they also discovered the deceased victim’s 10 month old sister in a bedroom where she lay in a cold room on a mattress with no sheets, a bottle of curdled milk beside her. The child was dirty and suffering from a terrible diaper rash. The apartment was filthy and unsanitary and rodent droppings were all over kitchen surfaces. Bugs flew around inside the refrigerator. The infant female was sent to Westchester Medical Center for follow-up care, both parents were interviewed and the investigation continued pending the results of an autopsy. At that time, Robinson minimized his conduct and stated he only hit the child one time on his buttocks.
When the autopsy was conducted by the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office, it was determined that Alex died as a result of blunt force trauma to his head and his torso and that he had hemorrhages in his brain and internal organs. Approximately nine marks on his back appeared to have been pattern injuries caused by some kind of instrument that he had been repeatedly struck with.
Reed told Yonkers Police that she witnessed Robinson beat their son until he was unconscious and detectives learned Reed did nothing for the child such as stop the attack, call 911, call an ambulance or seek any medical attention.
When the police located Blair Robinson again on December 27, 2016, he admitted to police that he had kicked, whipped and beaten the child in his head and torso earlier in the afternoon of December 24, 2016, and that following the beating he had inflicted, he had taken a nap and then gone to work for approximately 90 minutes, before finally returning to his house at 44 Maple Avenue where he retrieved his son and brought him to the emergency room. Robinson was arrested following that interview and charged with his son’s homicide.
Reed was indicted by the Grand Jury for two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and surrendered yesterday following the issuance of an arrest warrant that had been issued as a result of the action of the grand jury.
The Court set bail in the amount of five thousand dollars, and Reed was remanded to the Westchester County Jail.
Robinson pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on March 15. He has been remanded without bail to the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla and his case is also pending.
If convicted, Reed faces a maximum possible sentence of one year on each of the misdemeanor charges of child endangerment. Blair Robinson faces a possible sentence of twenty five years to life in state prison on the most serious charge of murder in the second degree.
Reed and Robinson are next due in Court on May 9, 2017.
This case is being prosecuted by Second Deputy District Attorney Fredric Green, Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division and Special Prosecutions Division Assistant District Attorney Joyce Miller.
In compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.6, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
