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Mom Who Reached 'Breaking Point' Suffocated Infant Son With Sheet, DA Says

By  Katie Honan and Trevor Kapp | July 8, 2014 11:44am | Updated on July 8, 2014 3:57pm

 Police have arrested Nicole Kelly, 22, and charged her with murdering her 11-month-old son, Kiam Felix Jr., according to the NYPD.
Police have arrested Nicole Kelly, 22, and charged her with murdering her 11-month-old son, Kiam Felix Jr., according to the NYPD.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan and Facebook

ELMHURST — A young mom who reached her "breaking point" suffocated her 11-month-old to death by wrapping him in a sheet and then waited hours to bring him to the hospital dressed all in white, according to police.

Nicole Kelly told investigators she was having trouble raising her son, Kiam Felix Jr., alone, so she killed him, police and witnesses said.

“I reached my breaking point, I didn’t want him anymore," she told police, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.

Investigators said she watched him struggle to breathe before leaving him alone. Even after finding that he turned blue about 30 minutes later, she waited hours before bringing him to the hospital.

A day after the tragic incident, Kelly, who was charged with murder, posted on Facebook that she should have done more to protect her boy.

"Missing my baby boy so much wish there was some way I could bring him back to life," she wrote in a post. "I feel horrible knowing he passed away Am his mother I was supposed to protect him I know his spirit will always be around me I would never forget my 1st Born he will forever remain in my heart & his family hearts."

Police responded to a call of an unresponsive baby around 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 6, inside Kelly's apartment on 52nd Avenue, near 92nd Street, according to the NYPD.

When they arrived, they were told that Kelly, 22, and the baby's father, who did not live with them, had left to take the child to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The medical examiner has not determined the cause of death, according to a spokeswoman, but a preliminary report was consistent with the mother's statements, according to the DA.

“This is a truly disturbing case of a mother accused of intentionally killing her helpless 11-month-old infant son," District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement. "The defendant is now facing serious charges that could lead to her spending the rest of her life behind bars if convicted.”

Kelly's roommate, 24, who did not give her name, told DNAinfo New York that she came home Sunday and found Kelly nervously pacing around their apartment and later brought out little Kiam dressed in all white.

"I asked her, 'What's going on? Tell me. Is the baby going to get baptized or something?'" the roommate said.

"He had a little white vest, little white dressy pants," she added. "He was already dressed in white."

The roommate said that Kelly told her Kiam hadn't been breathing for three hours.

"I called the ambulance right away," the roommate said. "I checked the pulse. The baby didn't have [a] pulse."

"It was already late," she added. "She didn't call the ambulance. She didn't call nobody."

The roommate said Kelly, who worked as a home health aide, had been living with Kiam in a room inside the first-floor apartment for about three months. She said the room had a bed but no crib.

"The baby was always crying, but I wouldn't get involved in her business," she said.

Kelly posted numerous pictures of the boy Monday on Facebook.

"R.I.P. 02 my Tinkabutt its sadd that you had to passed away yesterday my life would never be the same without you Mommy would always love you Your Family miss you but you forever remain in our hearts," she posted.

A spokesman for the Administration for Children's services said the agency is investigating.

The Queens District Attorney's Office said Kelly was hospitalized and had not been arraigned as of Tuesday afternoon.

Felix Jr.'s father is not being investigated as a suspect, according to the NYPD.