Elmhurst Woman Booked For Murder
An Elmhurst mother has been charged with murdering her 11-month-old baby after he suffocated under bedsheets, the Queens County District Attorney stated Tuesday, July 8.
Nicole Kelly, 22, was charged with second-degree murder, according DA Richard A. Brown. She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, he added.
The child, Kiam Felix Jr., was pronounced dead upon arrival at Elmhurst Hospital Center after officers from the 110th Precinct responded to a 911 call made by Kelly at 4:07 p.m. in the vicinity of 52nd Avenue and 90th Street in Elmhurst on Sunday, July 6, law enforcement sources stated.
Kelly reportedly covered the face and body of her son and tucked him in a bedsheet, then watched him struggle and left the room. She allegedly returned about 30 minute later to find Felix unresponsive, Several hours later, Kelly made the emergency call, according to police.
“This is a truly disturbing case of a mother accused of intentionally killing her helpless 11-month-old infant son,” Brown said. “The defendant is now facing serious charges that could lead to her spending the rest of her life behind bars if convicted.”
She originally claimed to have returned home to find the child unresponsive and not breathing, police said. In later statements to police, however, Kelly allegedly claimed she placed him under some bed sheets, then took a shower and when she was finished discovered the child was unconscious, according to law enforcement.
“I reached my breaking point, I didn’t want him anymore,” Kelly allegedly told investigators.
The investigation was conducted by the 110th Precinct Detective Squad, the Queens Child Abuse Squad and the Queens Homicide Squad.
Assistant District Attorneys Leigh Bishop, chief of District Attorney Brown’s Child Fatality Unit, and Brian Hughes of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, are prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Kenneth M. Appelbaum, chief of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Unit.
