4-Year-Old Found Dead Inside Brooklyn Apartment; Mother Accuses Stepdad Of Beating Son

A 4-year-old child was found dead inside an apartment in Brooklyn Sunday morning. The boy's stepfather is in custody for questioning, police said.

The incident came to light when the child's mother and their neighbors frantically flagged down officers patrolling in the area, saying the stepdad was beating up the child, according to New York Post.

Before entering their unit, cops visited a neighbor's apartment where the victim's 6-year-old brother had fled, reported New York Daily News. The child reportedly told the police his stepfather was attacking his defenseless younger sibling.

Officers then rushed to the apartment where the victim lived. There, they found the 27-year-old stepfather along with the unresponsive boy. Officers performed CPR on the child then took him to a Brooklyn hospital. However, he was pronounced dead a short time later, a spokesperson working with the New York City Police Department said.

According to reports, someone from the same address called 911 around the same time to report a man who was attempting to kill himself. Officers found that it was the stepdad, who was unhurt. He was then taken to custody.

The man, whose identity has not been revealed, was taken to PSA 1, a police precinct for public housing in the area, for questioning. No charges were immediately filed.

"The investigation will determine how this child died and what the stepfather's [possible] role was in it," a police spokesperson said.

An autopsy will be conducted by the city medical examiner to determine the boy's official cause of death.

Neighbors reported having heard a "lot of screaming" in the building.

"He can't breathe, he can't breathe,' that's what I heard. I was sleeping, and I was so scared to go out and see what was going on," Hinda, a neighbor, told NY Daily News.

"A woman was screaming, a man was screaming," she added. "There was a lot of people."

Last week, a 23-year-old man in New York City was arrested on murder and sexual abuse charges in connection with the death of his girlfriend's 1-year-old son. Police arrived at an apartment in the Claremont Village section of the Bronx following reports of an unresponsive child in the bedroom. The toddler was rushed to a hospital but was later pronounced dead. Keishawn Gordon, who lived in the apartment with the toddler's mom, allegedly punched the child, breaking his ribs and lacerating his liver, reports said.