Bronx Mother Indicted After Being Accused Of Killing 6-Year-Old Daughter

27-year-old Lynija Eason Kumar allegedly hung and beat her daughter, Jalavah Eason for several months before her death

A 27-year-old woman in the Bronx has been indicted after being accused of hanging and abusing her 6-year-old daughter in her apartment last year.

Lynija Eason Kumar has been charged with murder and manslaughter for the alleged killing of her daughter. Police officers were summoned to her residence in the Morrisiania area of the Bronx on May 26, 2023. After arriving at her 12th-floor apartment, officers found her daughter, Jalavah Eason, with multiple bruises and scars, some old, others healing, showing signs of prolonged abuse by Kumar.

Paramedics rushed her to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead after attempts to save her.

Detectives allege that Kumar was abusing Eason between March 1 and the day police officers found her body. Her mother allegedly would hang Jalayah in a closet and beat her with a hard object, according to authorities.

Prosecutors stated that the city medical examiner ruled Eason’s cause of death due as child abuse, including asphyxia, blunt force injuries, and malnourishment.

Eason lived with two siblings, an 8-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl, who were taken into custody by the Administration for Children’s Services after their sister’s death. The two children also showed signs of abuse and neglect.

“For weeks before she succumbed, Jelayah [sic] knew only pain and hunger, allegedly committed by her own mother,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a written statement. “We will get justice for Jelayah [sic] and are providing services and support to her two siblings who survived a house of horrors.”

The New York Post reported that Kumar was indicted for second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Clark said.

She is currently remanded at the Rose M. Singer Center in the Bronx and will remain there until her next court date, which is scheduled for June 26.