An East New York man has been charged with murder and manslaughter after he allegedly beat a four-year-old boy to death, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
Authorities claim Jerimiah Johnson, 27, beat his girlfriend’s son Jayce Eubanks to death, after an autopsy on the child showed he died of blunt force trauma to his torso.
“The autopsy of this helpless child revealed that he suffered unthinkable abuse in his short life and ultimately died, allegedly at the hands of this defendant, who we will now seek to hold accountable,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “I am committed to doing everything possible to protect children in our communities and to bring cowardly child abusers to justice.”
According to the District Attorney’s investigation, on Sept. 12, the victim’s mother was awoken at home in the Gowanus Houses apartment complex on Hoyt Street at 5:30 am by the defendant. The defendant, who was holding the young boy in his arms, told her that her son was not not breathing. The child was taken to Brooklyn Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead at 6:54 am.
An autopsy found that Eubanks was suffering from several old and new injuries at the time of his death, including multiple bruises to his body on his limbs, back, chest, and abdomen, bite marks on both of his ears, a healing skull fracture, multiple rib fractures, and trauma to the stomach.
A judge ordered Johnson be detained without bail. He is due back in court in Novemeber, at which time he faces a sentencing of up to 25 years to life in prison.