HARLEM — The man claiming to be the father of 6-year-old beating victim Zymere Perkins has had his request for a paternity test granted, according to court documents.
Nicholas John, 30, is hoping to sue the city for negligence after the boy's death in September. Prosecutors claim Zymere was killed by his mother's boyfriend, and his death sparked several investigations into the city's Administration for Children's Services.
John, who was arrested in 2015 and charged with dozens of gun-related charges in Brooklyn, is currently in Rikers Island awaiting trial, according to court records.
Judge Margaret Chan signed a motion on Wednesday to allow a private investigator to enter the jail and obtain a DNA swab from John’s mouth.
The swap will be compared to DNA collected at Zymere’s autopsy, according to court documents.
The city's Department of Correction did not oppose the motion for the DNA test, stating that it would comply if John’s motion was granted, according to the documents.
The city also dropped its opposition to the test, a city Law Department spokesman said. “There is no basis in law to deny him access to DNA testing to establish possible paternity,” he said.
John’s aim is to potentially bring a wrongful death suit against the city’s Administration of Children’s Services, the NYPD and a local social services nonprofit called Safe Horizon “for their negligence and failure,” according to court documents.
A spokesman for Safe Horizon said it is an organization that provides resources to victims and has no authority to respond to child abuse allegations.
"The details that have been released surrounding Zymere Perkins' abuse and death are truly heartbreaking," the spokesman said.
"Safe Horizon’s role is to provide mental health services and victim support for child victims and their non-offending caregiver. As an agency we don’t have the authority nor is it our role to investigate cases."
Police believe Zymere endured months of physical abuse at the hands of his mother, 26-year-old Geraldine Perkins, and her boyfriend, 42-year-old Rysheim Smith.
Perkins had been investigated by the ACS five times for abuse and some of those cases were substantiated.
The day the boy died, Smith hit Zymere with a wooden broomstick until the young boy went limp, officials said.
The city’s Medical Examiner ruled Zymere’s death a homicide caused by “acute and chronic abuse and neglect.”
In the court documents, John’s lawyer, Abe George, claims Perkins stated John was the father of Zymere, but his name is not on the birth certificate.
In a jailhouse interview at Rikers, Perkins told DNAinfo New York she had lost contact with Zymere’s biological father and did not know his whereabouts.