A 15-month-old baby was trapped alone with her mother’s corpse at a homeless shelter in New York City for five days.
Lyric Laboy, 15-months-old, was found huddled under a bed just a few feet away from the dead body of her mom, Shelbi Westlake, 26, at East River Family Center in Manhattan, New York on July 25.
New York Post reported that the workers at the facility found the child dehydrated and covered in feces five days after Westlake died. The city’s Medical Examiner’s office said that Westlake died of an accidental overdose.
According to a Manhattan Supreme Court petition filed by her dad, the little girl was rushed to the hospital. The beautiful little girl has still not fully recovered.
Quraan Laboy, 31, plans to sue the city and the Department of Homeless Services for $5 million in damages. The homeless shelter agency has denied Lyric was left alone for five days but didn’t say how long it was.
The agency said that the incident is under investigation, adding that the shelter is now required to conduct same-night wellness checks for any resident who hasn’t signed the nightly roster.
Westlake last signed in at the shelter six days before her body was found, Laboy’s attorney, Allison Keenan told the Post. No one checked in on the mother and daughter until a neighbor reported a “foul odor” coming from the apartment.
Atty. Keenan said: “Allowing an infant to remain with her dead mother for five days unnoticed not only highlights the indifference and lack of humanity shown to those most in need but exhibits complete malfeasance by the City of New York and Department of Homeless Services.”
The little girl lost 3 kilos through the harrowing nightmare and has been left severely traumatized. The child refuses to leave his side after the incident with Laboy saying: “I don’t know how long she will suffer with this. She has a lot of separation anxiety.”
Seth Harris, Laboy’s other attorney, said that the child has been “routinely slapping her dad while he’s sleeping to make sure he’s alive.”
Harris said of the child: “It’s amazing that she’s alive.”
Westlake and Laboy were separated. She and her daughter shared an apartment-like unit at the shelter at 325 East 104th St. in Manhattan and they had spent around three to four months at the homeless shelter.
Laboy said his daughter still cries out for her mom nearly every night despite partially recovering and regaining the weight she lost during the incident. He said that she was found at the homeless shelter with a “horrific” diaper rash that is still healing.
The dad says: “She always wakes up in the middle of the night, she’s kicking, she’s fighting, saying “Mommy”, I look at her and I just start tearing up sometimes.”
Laboy said he left his job at the New York City Housing Authority to take care of his daughter full time. He said: “I had to drop everything. She’s my number one priority right now. My daughter’s gotta deal with this mentally for the rest of her life.”
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