THE BRONX — A college-bound woman died suddenly at her Bedford Park home on Friday following an argument with her parents, family and sources said.
Latia Taylor-Atkins, 19, was arguing with her mother in their East 201st Street apartment Friday about 3 p.m. about staying out late, sources said.
Taylor-Atkins' father intervened in the argument, grabbing his daughter to restrain her, according to sources.
"She was arguing," Taylor-Atkins' mother, Virginia Taylor, said. "She was mouthing off. I went away. I went in my room and when I came back my daughter was on the floor."
Taylor confirmed that her husband got involved in the argument, but said that he didn't cause her death.
"He was there — talking to his daughter," she said. "He didn't restrain her like that."
A medical examiner's investigtion found trauma to Taylor-Atkin's throat, but police do not believe the father will face any criminal charges, sources said.
She was transported to Montefiore Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, the spokesman added.
"She was the sweetest. She was my hero," her mother said. "She loved her mother. When you saw her, you saw me. I feel like my whole world is gone. I don't want to be in this world without her."
"I can't explain it. My daughter — she was a healthy, strong young woman. Everybody is devastated," Taylor said.
The teen, who worked for the summer at Macy's flagship store in the men's department, was a high school graduate bound for her freshman year of college in the fall, her mother said.
Taylor-Atkins will be honored on June 18 at Greenpasture Baptist Church at 7 p.m. She was an active member of the congregation, her mother said.
