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Memorial Service Planned for 4-Year-Old Who Was Tortured and Starved

By  Janon Fisher and Ben Fractenberg | January 15, 2014 5:54pm 

 The body of the 4-year-old boy who prosecutors say was starved and tortured for a week before he died in a luxury Midtown highrise still has not been claimed.
Myls Dobson
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MANHATTAN — Family members of Myls Dobson, the 4-year-old starved and tortured in a luxury Midtown high-rise, have planned a memorial service for the boy early next week, they said.

A viewing service will be held at First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem next Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. and the funeral will follow from 7 to 8 p.m., family members confirmed. The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver a eulogy, his spokeswoman said.

The boy's remains were claimed Wednesday evening, a medical examiner's spokeswoman said.

Myls' father, Okee Wade, 37, a convicted mugger and fraudster, currently sits in a Southern New Jersey jail for bank fraud.

Philip Lights, the lawyer for Myls' mother, Ashley Dobson, said that the family has not authorized anyone to collect money on behalf of the boy's funeral and have not accepted any donations.

Lights has filed at least one cease and desist order for an Internet site trying to solicit donations on behalf of the family.

As memorial plans coalesced, Kryzie King, 27, charged with starving little Myls for two weeks, burning and beating him, skipped a scheduled court hearing due to unspecified medical reasons, her lawyer, Bryan Konoski said.

A grand jury voted Wednesday to indict King, though the charges are still sealed, sources said. Prosecutors had promised to push for murder charges, Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said at the arraignment. The charges are expected to be unsealed Feb. 5.

The city medical examiner autopsy was inconclusive and the office is conducting further tests to determine the cause of death, a spokeswoman said.

The city Administration for Children's Services supervised the child for about a year from 2011 to 2012 after a family court judge granted custody to Wade, a source said.

The boy's mother, Ashley Dobson, lost custody of Myls after she fled to the city to avoid accusations of beating him outside a South Carolina supermarket.

Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered ACS to conduct an investigation into the boy's supervision by city child welfare workers.