A toddler, who ACS had returned to his family in Queens just one month ago, was declared dead yesterday by authorities. It's unclear how Jaysha Brown died, but he was found with cuts, bruises, and bite marks as well as external injuries that appeared days old. The Daily News reports, "Investigators were trying to determine if the child was murdered - the victim of his mother, her boyfriend or, stunningly, his 5-year-old brother." The child's......

The 22-year-old man who was shot in Brooklyn last weekend, an incident that left a gruesome mess at the bus depot on Broadway and Roebling, has died. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the altercation leading to the shooting began at Williamsburg's Festa del Giglio, and witnesses say the scuffle resulted in Williamsburg resident Richard Duran getting shot in the face. "The gunmen — who onlookers suspect were gang members — sprinted off," however, the shooter......

A Marine Park husband and wife, who worked as divorce attorneys, were found dead, shot multiple times at close range in their bedroom. Their housekeeper found Mark Schwartz, 50, and Maria-Christina Petrowski-Schwartz, 48, yesterday afternoon on East 33rd Street. The Post reports that the police are investigating it as a double homicide, but "detectives had not entirely ruled out the possibility that it was a murder-suicide" (the murder weapon was not found). The Daily News......

Just as the NYPD announced that it would distribute more Tasers as a non-lethal alternative to firearms, a Brooklyn man was killed by a Long Island police officer when he was Tasered. Suffolk County police said that the 26-year-old Tony Bradway died after being shocked twice by an officer's Taser, as the deceased was attempting to swallow a bag of cocaine. According to the police, the Southampton police were at a house for another matter......

Neighbors shouted and cursed Lemar Martin and Nymeen Cheatham as they were led from their apartment building in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Despite the sweltering heat, Cheatham wore a heavy parka, so she could pull the fur-trimmed hood over her head to hide her face. The pair were arrested in connection to the death of three-year-old Kyle Smith, who was declared dead Friday afternoon despite the best efforts of EMS workers. Cheatham was the young boy's godmother,......

A 54-year-old foster mother has been arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide after she gave her six-year-old charge a prescription pain killer that killed her. Taylor Webster complained that her neck hurt, so foster mother Joanne Alvarez gave the girl a baby Motrin. When the pain didn't abate, Alvarez applied a topical pain-killing patch containing fentanyl, a drug not approved for use on people under 16 years old. Alvarez found her foster daughter unconscious......

Police and firefighters are investigating the cause of death of a man who died late yesterday evening in the Bronx. The two standout theories are that he died because he was on fire or because he may have been shot. The still-unidentified man stumbled in the first floor hallway of the Eastchester Houses on Adee Ave. in the Bronx around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night; he was on fire and collapsed. Responding firefighters declared him dead......

A 29-year-old woman scheduled to testify in a kidnapping case today was possibly thrown from a Harlem building yesterday morning. Joy Blackman, who was a witness to a kidnapping and was also a witness against her accused rapist in a separate case, was found dead in an alleyway at 145 West 145th Street. The building's roof alarm had been triggered between 1:15 a.m. and 2:15 a.m., Newsday reports no one seemed to check the roof.......

The man who allegedly shot and killed Carol Simon-Hayes last week, as she was walking towards her nine-year-old son and talking to a friend on the phone, has been arrested. Darius Dubarry was arrested at a motel in Augusta, Georgia, where the 27-year-old fled town after Simon-Hayes's death. Simon-Hayes was killed in Crown Heights when an argument between Dubarry and another man devolved to gunplay, and Simon was struck by a stray bullet. “I got......

The prime suspect in the murder of an FDNY fire marshal – his wife – may have instructed her children to wear earplugs in the hours before the slaying. According to the Daily News, investigators found two earplugs in the bedroom Janet Mercereau shared with her kids (the marriage was on the rocks). If prosecutors prove that Mercereau had given the children earplugs to keep them from waking up during the shooting, it will mean......

The NYPD detectives working the homicide investigation of Carol Simon have identified a suspect in her killing, although they are not publicizing his identity. Simon was shot as she was returning to her car where her son was waiting for her at a gas station. The killing occurred Saturday evening in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, as an argument between two men turned violent and one of the men pulled a gun. Neighbors and......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police officer was struck on Richmond and Wilson Aves. on Staten Island, there was a large fight on Franklin Ave. and Empire Blvd. in Brooklyn, and a double homicide on Furman Ave. and East 237th St. in the Bronx. The US Postal Service is expecting to process one billion individual pieces of mail today, three times the daily average. The busiest day of the year is expected to......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person under a train at East Fordham Rd. and Jerome Ave. in the Bronx, a shooting on Henry and West 9th Sts. in Brooklyn, and a homicide on Roosevelt Ave. in Queens. New Yorkers found guilty of repeated incidents of ignoring recycling laws may be required to throw out their trash in see-through bags for easy inspection. Ads soliciting the perfect ass might not make it onto city......

Fire Marshal Douglas Mercereau was laid to rest at St. Charles R.C. Church on Staten Island yesterday. Mercereau was found murdered in his home, shot three times in the head, and his wife appears to be a suspect. Though the police have not officially named any suspects, Janet Redmond-Mercereau allegedly had a rocky relationship with her husband, to the point where the two started divorce proceedings in 2006. At the funeral, mourners "cast suspicious glances"......

A "rising star" in the Fire Department was found with three gunshot to the head in his Staten Island home Sunday morning. The ME's office said that Douglas J. Mercereau's death was a homicide. It's believed that his 38-year-old wife, Janet Redmond-Mercereau, is a suspect (the Daily News calls her the "prime suspect"). She called 911 around 8:25AM on Sunday, saying she found her husband's body. The Staten Island Advance says the couple had "started......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a scaffolding collapse on 5th Ave. and 115th St. in Manhattan, a stabbing on Franklin Ave. in Queens, and a homicide at 83rd St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn. The new Kaleidoscope Light Show is now on display at Grand Central Terminal's main hall. The Toshiba company returns to Times Square after being absent for several decades. The company signed a 10-year lease to capture the top sign spot......

First responders gathered in front of the NYC Medical Examiner's office to protest how the ME has classified deaths seemingly related to Ground Zero illnesses. State Senator Eric Adams said he would introduce legislation making sure first responders who worked at Ground Zero will "get the same line-of-duty benefits" as September 11 victims. Recently, the ME's office has not named two rescuers, who worked at the World Trade Center site after September 11 and later......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Merrick and Baisley Blvds. in Queens, an overturned auto on the F.D.R. Drive at East 23rd St. in Manhattan, and shots fired at the police at 58th St. and 18th Ave. in Brooklyn. Two employees were found dead in an empty 20,000 gallon vat they were cleaning at an industrial laundry service in NJ. The men appear to have been overcome by chemical fumes and suffocated.......

Dr. Charles S. Hirsch is the chief medical examiner of New York City and has overseen the autopsies on more than 100,000 people. He would probably remain a mystery to most New Yorkers, if it weren't for his ruling on the death of Det. James Zadroga, who worked clean-up at Ground Zero after September 11, 2001. Hirsch said that Zadroga's death wasn't related to Ground Zero dust, but ground-up pills the detective was allegedly injecting.......

A three pound rock that fell from a truck flew through a car windshield, killing the front passenger in Old Brookville. Seventy-five-year-old Rita Oill was pronounced dead at North Shore University Hospital an hour after the 10:15AM incident. She and her daughter Marie Waters were out to do some Thanksgiving shopping. The truck's driver did not stop. Newsday reports that the rock was "about five inches in circumference and about two inches in diameter" and......

Linda Stein's daughter says that her mother had been recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and was, according to the Daily News, "taking medication that caused severe mood swings." Stein was found bludgeoned to death on October 30, and her personal assistant Natavia Lowery was arrested for her murder on Friday. Samantha Stein-Wells said, "My mother didn't deserve this.... They had just found a brain tumor a couple of weeks before she was killed. Everyone......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an attempted bank robbery on East 23rd St. in Manhattan, a pedestrian struck on 82nd St. and Central Park West in Manhattan, and a homicide on Grand Ave. in Brooklyn. The politics of succession in the world of Masters of the Universe. Changing places, changing times, unsurpassable ambition. Sometimes the old is new: when a garbage hauling-controlling family tells you to do something, you do it, or they'll burn......

A grand jury voted to indict former police commissioner Bernard Kerik on federal corruption charges yesterday and, this morning, he surrender to the FBI in White Plains. The indictment was sealed, but the 16 counts include charges of "conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud and making false statements." The U.S. Attorney's office, which sought the indictment, and the FBI are giving a press conference now; U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a scaffolding collapse on Vernon Blvd. and 51st Ave. in Queens, an unstable building on East 102nd St. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Tompkins Ave. in Brooklyn. Probably one of the worst group of employees one should try to steal IDs from for bogus credit cards is cops. A civilian employee of the NYPD was arrested for doing just that at her second job as a clerk at......

Ten years ago today, Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan left their rent-stabilized loft in downtown Manhattan, went for a jog, rented a video and were never seen again. Today, the Daily News revisits the mystery and speaks to Sylvia's mother. Laurie Sylvia says, "I want to know what happened. Each year that goes by I think, maybe this year. I never imagined I would be doing that for 10 years." Sylvia, then 36, and Sullivan,......

Brushing aside the Staten Island Borough President's repeated criticism and endorsement of his opponent, Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan won re-election in a landslide over Democratic challenger Michael Ryan. Donovan, whose 51st birthday was also yesterday, said during the celebration, "Tonight, you guys made me real happy." The SI DA's race became unexpectedly contentious when SI Borough President James Molinaro, who Donovan worked under as a Deputy Beep and considered a friend, attacked Donovan's......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian struck on 160th St. and Sanford Ave. in Queens, a stabbing on 10th Ave. in Manhattan, and a homicide on Kelly and East 163rd Sts. in the Bronx. CUNY hired a legendary graffiti artist to teach a course on the subject, which is upsetting a lot of people. Ron Kuby is upset that Don Imus is back on the air. Mostly because he took his job to......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a death investigation on Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, an unstable building on Cherry St. and Robinson Ave. in Queens, and a homicide on East 29th St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have different views over torture. Texting and talking on the phone are about to be banned in the Garden State. It's possible that news of a sniper on the Saw Mill River Parkway......

Claiming he was panicked, the driver who fatally struck a mother of four in Staten Island Tuesday night now faces felony charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. But the law is a strange thing. The Staten Island Advance reports that if 19-year-old Ibraim Qoku "hadn't run away, he could have ended up with nothing more than a speeding ticket." Qoku was driving 50MPH, 20 MPH over the speed limit, on Hylan Boulevard......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double shooting/possible homicide on Greene St. in Brooklyn, a shooting at Wyckoff Ave. and Starr St. in Brooklyn, and another shooting at East 51st St. and Church Ave. in Brooklyn. An appreciation of Jewish Delis in New York City. To avoid the widespread use of pesticides on its acres of grounds, real estate firm Tishman Speyer released 720,000 ladybugs around Stuy-Town and Peter Cooper Village. The ladybugs will......