The Landing shelter at 94-00 Ditmars Blvd (Google Maps)
Jan. 13, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Two babies died Friday after they were found unconscious at an East Elmhurst homeless shelter.
Police officers, responding to a 911 call, found the babes, a twin boy and girl around 2 months old, unconscious and unresponsive inside the lobby of The Landing family shelter, located at 94-00 Ditmars Blvd, at 3:42 p.m. on Jan. 10.
EMS rushed the infants to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, where they were pronounced dead, police said.
No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing, police said. The New York City Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
The infants’ father told police he had put them down for a nap and found them unconscious when he returned, according to reports.
According to Eyewitness News, the infants were both in cardiac arrest when police responded to the scene.
A fundraiser was set up Saturday to pay for the funeral and burial costs of the twins.
The twin infants (Gofundme)
“Liyam and Liyah, twins 2 months old, unexpectedly passed away,” the gofundme page reads. “As the family, our hearts are heavy as we prepare to find the means to lay these Angels to rest.”
There were no signs of criminality in connection to their deaths and the infants’ parents have been released from police questioning, according to the New York Post, which quoted a law enforcement source.
The family shelter where the twins lived opened in 2015 and was converted from a former Clarion Hotel. The 169-family shelter is privately run by CAMBA and funded by the City.
Following the twin infants’ deaths, Council Member Francisco Moya called for an investigation into the security and safety practices at The Landing homeless shelter.
“My heart breaks for the loss of these children, a boy and a girl who were just two-months old and had their entire lives ahead of them,” Moya said. “This tragedy marks the second and third deaths tied to The Landing in just two months.”
In November, a 38-year-old man was fatally stabbed outside the shelter.
“With shelter should come safety but residents and neighbors of The Landing have concerns and deserve answers about what is happening inside the facility,” Moya added. “That’s why I’m calling for a full investigation into the security practices at this shelter.”
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One Comment
In the past 2 years there have been numerous infant deaths out of the shelters in Western Queens. An infant death in the Quality Inn shelter on Queens Blvd. and 53rd Street, an infant death in the Days Inn hotel by LaGuardia Community college and now these two poor babies. In Nov a homeless man was stabbed to death in front of this very shelter. In July a woman was charged with the overdose murder of someone in the Crown Motor Inn at 74th Street an Queens Blvd and another man at at the Kamway Lodge at 77 th Street (Cipriani chef) where she waited for her pimp to dismember his body. Two stick up artists were found hiding out by two cops serving another warrant at the Mets motel on Queens Blvd. The assault at the Quality Inn at 53rd Street and Queens Blvd, where a poor resident felt compelled to assault a mechanic who worked at a garage near the hotel. The lust goes on and on. The crime from the shelters is unreal, shut them down.