According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, at approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 30, 2015, Latisha Fisher, 36, was discovered by restaurant staff inside the bathroom of 5 Boro Burger, located at 976 Sixth Avenue, where she was sitting on the toilet and holding her 20-month-old son, Gavriel Fisher.

The child was foaming from the nose and his lips were blue. FDNY EMS responded to a 911 call by restaurant staff, and upon their arrival the boy was treated on site and then transported in an ambulance to Bellevue Hospital. The defendant remained on the scene and told the FDNY first responders that the devil made her “put him to sleep.” Fisher then demonstrated how she smothered the child by cupping her hands and indicating that she placed them over the boy’s face. The attending physician at Bellevue pronounced Gavriel Fisher dead at approximately 3:30 p.m. The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner later ruled that the child’s death was a homicide as a result of smothering.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced that Fisher was indicted for the murder of her 20-month-old son. The defendant is charged with Murder in the Second Degree and Strangulation in the Second Degree.[1]

“Latisha Fisher is charged with deliberately killing her 20-month-old son, tragically ending the boy’s life,” said District Attorney Vance. “Today, with this murder indictment, we are seeking justice for the senseless death of an innocent child. I urge anyone who believes they know a victim of child abuse to call our Child Abuse Hotline at 212-335-4308, or visit the Manhattan Family Justice Center at 80 Centre Street. Help is available for those in need.”

“This appears to be an instance where a mental health problem was the underlying cause of this tragedy,” Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier told reporters.