Mother of dead infant in Queens now in custody

RICHMOND HILL, N.Y. -- The mother of an infant boy found outside a Queens apartment building Friday is now in police custody.

The boy, just 20 days old, was found around 4 a.m. in a courtyard outside the 115th Street apartment building, near a trash can in the Richmond Hill section. It has been ruled a homicide; detectives said they believe he was tossed from a fourth-floor window.

"Four o'clock in the morning, I step out and I heard something fall out the window, like a book," building resident Mazol Ilyayeva said. "I go downstairs into the courtyard, and I see the baby on the floor, just blood everywhere, and just like a puppy dead."

Rizwan Ahmad, who was born on July 18, was dressed in a blue and white onesie.

Ilyayeva called 911.

"As I'm sleeping, I wake up to the noise of people just running up and down the stairs," neighbor Taylor Russea said. "Lights are flashing outside my window. My dog is barking."

At this point, police believe Rizwan was tossed out of a fourth-floor window. His 21-year-old mother was taken to Jamaica Medical Center for observation.

An autopsy on the infant revealed that he died of blunt impact of the head and torso, with skull fractures and lacerations of brain, liver and spleen. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Police said the baby didn't fall by himself.

And the shock seeped through this Richmond Hill community, eyewitnesses say the baby's family, seemed to show no emotion.

Police questioned 40-year-old father. The baby's mother was hospitalized for observation before she was taken to a precinct to be questioned. She was in custody Saturday morning.

And while Russea heard the aftermath, his brother overheard noises minutes before the infant was thrown.

"We live right below them," he said. "So he heard a huge tantrum of a kid crying, and just running up and down, that's all he heard."

EMS pronounced the child dead at the scene.

No charges were immediately filed and the incident is under investigation.

The Administration for Children's Services is also investigating. Two other children, ages 3 and 8 live in the apartment, but it's unclear where they are staying now.