Lindenhurst parents denied care to starving son, 9, and toddler who needed heart transplant, DA says

A Lindenhurst couple denied medical care to two of their four children for years, leaving one boy requiring a heart transplant and his 9-year-old brother malnourished, anemic and still wearing diapers, prosecutors said Friday.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said the couple withheld basic medical treatment from the children for a prolonged period, resulting in what he called devastating and entirely preventable harm.

The mother and father were arraigned Thursday in Riverhead on a bevy of charges relating to the alleged child abuse. Tierney’s office is not identifying the indicted defendants publicly in order to protect the identities of the child victims.

The case began nearly two years ago. On Oct. 2, 2024, the couple’s youngest child — then 4 years old — was brought to a doctor for what was reported as constipation, Tierney said.

The boy had allegedly not seen a doctor since he was 2 months old and was found by doctors to be in a medically critical state. He was rushed to Good Samaritan University Medical Center, authorities said.

The child was later found to be in heart failure, allegedly caused by chronic iron deficiency anemia stemming from a diet that consisted almost entirely of milk mixed with strawberry syrup. Due to the severity of his condition, the tot was transferred first to Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center, and then to NYU Langone Health in Manhattan, where he underwent a heart transplant.

When investigators went to the family’s home, they allegedly found the couple’s 9-year-old son malnourished, with pale skin, and wearing a diaper. The boy was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where doctors determined he was in a medically critical state and severely anemic.

The older boy had allegedly not received medical care since he was 2 and had never been enrolled in school. Investigators said he suffered heart damage, including an enlarged left ventricle, due to chronic iron deficiency anemia caused by a diet of strawberry milk fed through a baby bottle.

The couple’s two older sons, aged 11 and 12 at the time that authorities began investigating their mother and father, were enrolled in school and had received medical care. Still, both of the boys required additional medical or dental treatment for conditions stemming from inadequate care, authorities said.

“When parents abandon their duty to care for a child, and the child then suffers serious physical harm as a result, our office will aggressively pursue justice on their behalf,” Tierney said.

The defendants were arraigned before state Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro on an indictment charging each with two counts of first-degree assault, a violent felony; two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment; three counts of third-degree assault; and eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Ambro ordered each defendant held on $500,000 cash, $1 million bond, or $5 million partially secured bond. They both face up to 50 years in prison if convicted on the top count.

_{Top: Good Samaritan University Medical Center in West Islip (GLI file photo).}