A monstrous Queens father brutally beat his 8-year-old stepson because the boy ate his brownies, attacking the youngster so viciously that he caused neck and back fractures, prosecutors allege.
Davien Reid, Sr. hit the boy, picked him up, and repeatedly stomped him, causing internal injuries and making the child throw up — and the cruel stepdad then forced his young victim to lick his vomit off the floor, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Tuesday.
The 8-year-old needed to be hospitalized for three weeks, and at one point needed a feeding tube.
Reid, 43, was indicted Friday on attempted murder, assault, witness intimidation and other offenses for the April 24, 2024, attack in the family’s Richmond Hill home.
The boy’s mother, Dayanara Vargas, 31, was indicted for a Nov. 24, 2023, attack where she hit him in the head with a broom, causing a gash on his scalp that needed staples to close, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, these defendants inflicted unspeakable cruelty,” Katz said. “It was brutal. Thankfully, the victim and his siblings are all now safe and we will get justice for this child.”
Reid and Vargas have been a couple for several years. Reid entered the relationship with three children and Vargas had two children. The couple also have two children in common.
Vargas called 911 after Reid beat her son, but she told cops a different version of events, that the boy was hurt while fighting his stepbrother, prosecutors allege.
When cops arrived at their Richmond Hill home on 88th Ave., they found the youngster sitting on the bathroom floor with head trauma, his head severely bruised and deformed, with one eye swollen shut, and bruises all along his back and arms, prosecutors said.
The youngster’s injuries were severe — compression fractures on his neck and upper back, a subdural hematoma, ligament injuries in his neck, rectal bleeding, a laceration to his pancreas and other intestinal and abdominal injuries, prosecutors said. Cops removed all the children from the home shortly after they arrived, prosecutors said.
After his release from the hospital, the boy needed to wear a cervical collar on his neck for about five months.
The boy later told investigators about the beating, as well as his mother’s broom attack, prosecutors said. Vargas took him to an urgent-care clinic that time and lied about his injuries, according to prosecutors.
Meanwhile, Vargas’s family members told The News she did nothing wrong.
Her brother, Christopher, 25, said, “This is a travesty for all the children involved. The court system will prove my sister to be a good person and a good mother. When everything happened, she was at work. She’s being charged with things she did not do.”
“Everyone in my family is all right,” Vargas’s mother said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Gia Morris ordered Reid held without bail and Vargas held on $250,000 cash or $500,000 bond. Vargas was still being held on Rikers Island as of Tuesday afternoon.
Reid could face up to 25 years behind bars if convicted at trial, while Vargas could face up to five years.
Their lawyers did not return immediately return messages seeking comment
