According to his defense attorney, the Manhattan man accused of starving his 4-year-old son to death has been attacked by other inmates at Rikers Island while his lawyers battle to place him in protective custody.
Officials charged Laron Modlin, 25, with murder, manslaughter, assault, and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jah’Meik Modlin last month. The boy weighed 19 pounds when he died.
The bearded defendant entered a not guilty plea during his brief court appearance in Manhattan while wearing gray prison clothes.
“At least twice he was attacked in the unit by other inmates in response to the news and media,” defense attorney Jessica Horani told the judge while arguing to keep photographers from taking his picture in court. “We’re trying to get him into protective custody.”
Prosecutors accuse Modlin and the boy’s mother, Nytavia Ragsdale, 26, of starving their four children for years while consuming fresh food every day. According to court records, the parents allegedly loaded their refrigerator with fresh groceries but turned it so that their four children couldn’t open the door. Any cabinet with food had a zip tie on the handle.
Jah’s brothers, ages 5, 6, and 7, were hospitalized for malnutrition and are gradually regaining lost motor abilities, including the ability to wield utensils, according to court filings.
“Jah’Meik and his siblings were not in school and had not seen a doctor in over two years. The defendants kept any family or friends from visiting in person, limiting communication to phone or video chats, continuing to isolate the children, and hiding each of their deteriorating conditions,” prosecutors said.
Around 7:45 p.m. on October 13, police responded to a 911 call reporting an unresponsive youngster in a home on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem. The boy died the next morning due to neglect and hunger.
Jak’Meik and his siblings arrived at the hospital with dirt under their nails and feces in their hair, according to officials. Prosecutors claimed that one of the three-bedroom apartment’s rooms was filthy and debris-filled, with feces on the walls.
“The death of Jah’Meik Modlin, an innocent 4-year-old child, is a tragedy that has scarred this city. That he died a slow and painful death, starving alongside his older siblings, somehow isolated in the heart of Harlem, is a stain on our collective conscience,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said last week.
Ragsdale, who is also charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, and criminally negligent homicide, was arrested last week and is being held without bail, according to court documents.
The parents will appear in court again on December 18.
