A 16-year-old autistic boy starved to death in a squalid Bronx apartment, leading to murder charges against his mother and grandmother, according to police. Adonis Jarvis was allegedly subjected to years of neglect inside the cluttered, unsanitary home before his mother, Geneva Jarvis, 36, brought him and his twin brother to Lincoln Hospital on March 19. Adonis did not survive, and his death was recently ruled a homicide.
Investigators found the apartment on East 147th Street in the South Bronx to be in a state of extreme disarray. Photos from the scene revealed mountains of garbage, debris, empty containers, and soiled mattresses filling rooms and obstructing pathways. The bathroom was described as filthy, with trash and debris covering the floor and reaching the toilet bowl.
Geneva Jarvis and her mother, 62-year-old Denise Jarvis, were arrested Thursday and charged with murder. The surviving twin brother is reportedly in the custody of the city's Administration for Children's Services, which stated that the agency has secured his safety and is investigating the incident in conjunction with the NYPD.