A Brooklyn couple has been indicted on multiple charges following the 2025 death of their four-year-old son, who authorities say was fatally exposed to fentanyl inside a family shelter.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Friday that the child’s parents, Yitzchok Sklar, 33, and Miriam Elkayam, 27, were arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court in connection with the death of their son, Aron Sklar.
“This indictment alleges a heartbreaking level of neglect that resulted in a fatal overdose of a four-year-old boy,” DA Gonzalez said in a statement. “Parents have a fundamental responsibility to keep their children safe, and by allegedly allowing fentanyl and other narcotics into their residence, these defendants failed in that duty.”
Prosecutors added that the family was living in a family shelter on Glenwood Road in East Flatbush at the time of the incident.
Emergency responders were called to the shelter on March 4, 2025, after Aron was found unresponsive. After administering Narcan, they transported the child to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Toxicology reports then determined the cause of death to be fentanyl exposure.
Authorities also allege that “suspected fentanyl and other narcotics were allegedly recovered from the defendants’ residence, along with drug paraphernalia.”
The indictment charges Sklar and Elkayam with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Prosecutors said the indictment expands on earlier misdemeanor charges by adding counts directly related to the child’s death.
At arraignment under Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo, Sklar was “remanded without bail.” Elkayam was held on “$500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond.” Both defendants are scheduled to return to court on May 1.
