couple accused of beating their 3-month-old son to death on Thursday in a Harlem homeless shelter were arraigned in Manhattan yesterday on second-degree murder charges and held without bail, the authorities said.
Officials also said yesterday that three years ago the couple, Colesvinton Florestal, 27, and Jovannie Florestal, 20, gave custody of their only other child, a son, now 5, to a relative after city authorities received a complaint that Ms. Florestal was mistreating him. About 8 a.m. Thursday, an ambulance was called to the Hamilton Hotel in Harlem, a 150-room shelter the city uses for homeless families. Mr. Florestal dashed out, handed the baby to an emergency medical technician and ran down the block, residents said yesterday.
The baby, also named Colesvinton Florestal, weighed nine pounds and was badly injured and malnourished, the police said. He was dead by the time he reached Harlem Hospital Center, they said.
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