QUEENS — The death of a 5-year-old Jamaica boy earlier this year — whose family had been visited 13 times by the Administration of Children’s Services in the past — has been ruled a homicide, the city medical examiner’s office said.
Michael Guzman was found inside his home on 109th Street between Inwood and Liverpool streets on Jan. 22, after his mother called 911 around 4:15 p.m., police said.
The medical examiner’s office determined that the boy died from acute phenobarbital intoxication.
Phenobarbital is a drug prescribed for seizure disorders.
The boy, whose body showed no visual signs of trauma, had a prior medical condition involving epileptic seizures, law enforcement sources said at the time.
Emergency personnel performed CPR on the boy, but he was later pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital, police said.
Officials said that the family had been visited by ACS 13 times in the past. Eight of those visits found evidence of abuse or neglect, including not giving children proper food and clothing, physical trauma, including cuts and bruises, and one of the children being sexually abused by a relative.
Michael's mother told investigators that she and the boy's father went to visit friends the night before, leaving the child with his five siblings, ages 15, 12, 11, 9 and 2, sources said.
Hours later she found him unconscious with vomit coming out of his mouth and called 911.
The boy's parents were questioned by police at the time, but were later released, officials said.
No arrests have been made in connection to the boy's death as of Monday, police said.
