Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose, III have announced that authorities are investigating the death of a seven-year-old child in Newark.
Essex County Officials say on Monday, shortly after 8:00 am, Newark police officers were dispatched to a residence in the 100 block of Weequahic Avenue on reports of a sick or injured child.
Arriving officers observed an unresponsive child within the residence. The child was rushed to Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark and he was pronounced dead at 9:05 am, according to Prosecutor Stephens according to police.
Police identified the child as Aydin Brown, a second-grade student at University Charter School in Newark.
This death is being investigated by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department. The cause and manner of the child’s death will be determined by an autopsy conducted by the New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office in Newark, according to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas S. Fennelly.
While the investigation into the circumstances of the child’s death is continuing, authorities have charged the individual who was caring for Aydin with endangering the welfare of a child.
Police say, Mark Harper, 36, of Union, was arrested by Prosecutor’s detectives Monday evening, according to Fennelly.
Harper has been identified as the boyfriend of Aydin’s mother.
Harper has been lodged in the Essex County Correctional Facility pending a detention hearing in NJ Superior Court. The investigation is active and ongoing according to police.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Prosecutor's Tips Line at (877) 847-7432.
The charge against this defendant is merely an allegation he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.