3-Year-Old East Harlem Boy's Death Classified A Homicide: Police

HARLEM, NY — Police classified the death of a 3-year-old East Harlem boy found covered in bruises in front of the Thomas Jefferson Apartments last summer a homicide on Friday.

Caleb Rivera was discovered Aug. 3, 2016 "in a state of distress," and transported to the Metropolitan Hospital by EMS, police told Patch. The boy was later transported from the Cornell Medical Center where he remained in critical condition, police said.

"He had a big bruise on his head, a fresh bruise on the old bruise on his face," neighbor Nikki Whatley told the Daily News in August. "His head was swollen. It was out to here on the left-hand side. He had bruises on his arms, his stomach, his face. He looked malnourished. You could see his bones and his ribs."

Two days later Rivera was pronounced dead, police told Patch. The cause of death was multiple blunt impacts to the head and neck, according to the medical examiner's office.

Police said that no arrests have been made and that the investigation is still ongoing. Police had questioned Rivera's mother and her boyfriend Justin Ortiz in August, police told Patch.

Photo by Google Maps street view