Man Indicted In Murder Of 6-Year-Old Harlem Boy Zymere Perkins

HARLEM, NY — The live-in boyfriend of the mother of slain Harlem 6-year-old has been officially indicted on murder charges by the Manhattan District Attorney for allegedly beating the boy to death.

Rysheim Smith, 42, will face charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the DA's office.

“The horrific abuse Zymere Perkins endured during the final months of his short life cuts deep, and as New Yorkers, shocks our conscience. This indictment marks the beginning of our pursuit of justice in the name of young Zymere," District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.

The indictment comes months after the Medical Examiner ruled Perkins' death a homicide by fatal child abuse syndrome in October. Perkins was rushed to Mount Sinai Saint Luke's Hospital by his mother on Sept. 26 suffering from bruises to his body and a contusion on his head, police told Patch. Perkins was pronounced dead the same day, police said.

The boy's mother, Geraldine Perkins, told police that her live-in boyfriend Smith hit the boy with his hands and with a wooden broom stick the day of his death, according to a criminal complaint. The mother also told police that Smith had hung the boy from the back of their apartment's bathroom door by his shirt and had seen his body "go limp," according to the complaint.

Smith had become upset when he found out the boy had defecated in the apartment's living room, according to the criminal complaint.

A state report issued in December found that workers for the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) failed to protect Perkins on numerous occasions before the child was killed.
The scathing report from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) found that the ACS did not conduct thorough investigations into alleged abuse of Perkins, did not follow regulatory standards and failed to intervene when it could have protected Perkins. The OCFS report analyzed five ACS investigations into Perkins' family — three indicated and two unfounded — that occurred between June 2010 and April 2016.

"The level of casework activity for all cases was insufficient and was particularly lacking given the family circumstances."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio released a statement saying the report "uncovered a troubling series of lapses and missed opportunities in ACS’s failed effort to protect Zymere Perkins."

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