A Queens mother accused of murdering her 15-month-old son called the tot’s father, telling him she had “killed their child” moments before she slit her wrists and was found in a locked bathroom cradling the unconscious child in her blood-soaked arms, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Nicole Boodhai, 28, was ordered held without bail during her arraignment in Queens Criminal Court for allegedly killing little Charlie Ramraykha on Dec. 29. She has been hospitalized ever since, and appeared Wednesday in court via video hookup from her hospital bed.
It is still unclear exactly how Charlie was killed. The toddler showed no obvious signs of trauma when he was discovered, police said, and the city medical examiner is conducting additional testing after an initial autopsy was inconclusive.
Although Boodhai lived at an address a few blocks away, she and little Charlie were staying with Charlie’s father at his South Jamaica home on 157th St. near 109th Ave. when the tot was killed, prosecutors revealed Wednesday.
That morning, Charlie’s father left for work around 8 a.m. as Boodhai and their son slept, prosecutors said. When he returned just before 11 a.m., Boodhai and the boy were still sleeping, the father told investigators.
But about 1:35 p.m., Boodhai called the father, saying she had killed their child and intended to kill herself, according to prosecutors.
The panicked dad called his mother, who lives downstairs from him, and asked her to check on Boodhai and little Charlie.
When Charlie’s grandmother went upstairs, she found the bathroom door locked. With help from another relative, they forced open the door to a grisly sight: Boodhai was lying in a bathtub, covered in blood, cradling an unconscious Charlie in her arms.
Medics rushed mother and son to Jamaica Hospital, but little Charlie could not be saved. Police said she had used a box cutter to slit her wrists, wounds prosecutors said she is still recovering from.
“We have to not rush to judgment on this case,” Boodhai’s attorney Michael Dreishpoon told the Daily News. “This is a tough situation for everyone. We’ll have to see how the case unfolds down the road.”
If convicted of murder, Boodhai faces 25 years to life in prison.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz called the case an “extraordinary tragedy.”
“[She] intentionally caused the unnatural death of her own 15-month-old son,” Katz alleged in a statement. “By all accounts, Charlie was a healthy and vivacious toddler.”
Charlie’s funeral was held Tuesday in South Ozone Park.
The incident unsettled neighbors, including Fateema Masuma, 20, who lives two doors away.
“I heard the man screaming really loud and I heard a child scream-cry really loud, too,” she said. “I’ve never heard someone scream like that. It was scary.”
