After the arrest of Damion Comage (23) and Ivana Paolozzi (20), young parents of the 3-month-old baby found dead in a dump near Yankee Stadium in The Bronx (NYC), the maternal grandparents of Swiss nationality have come out in defense from her daughter.
From that European country, Rene and Irene Paolozzi affirmed to Daily News that they and their daughter Ivana – mother of baby Genevieve Rozzlyn allegedly beaten to death by her father because she wouldn’t stop crying – have also been victims of her boyfriend’s violence and that she even planned to return to Switzerland.
The exact cause of the baby’s death is pending further study by the city’s medical examiner, but the incident has been ruled a homicide. Her parents allegedly dressed the dead baby in a hat and overalls and put her in a stroller so they could sneak her body out of her Bronx shelter without raising alarms, prosecutors alleged. yesterday.
“Our daughter was a good girl, but she believed in him (Comage),” said Mr. Paolozzi crying from Switzerland in his statements to the press. “It is very, very difficult for all of us. no one understands why [se quedó con él]. Only her.” The girl was born earlier this year and her Swiss grandparents had not yet met her.
We had several scary moments with him.”
Rene Paolozzi on the father of his murdered granddaughter
The grandfather claimed that Comager once assaulted him while he was staying with them on the outskirts of Zurich and beat his daughter until she was bleeding, an incident he reported to Swiss police. “He slapped me and knocked me out in my own house,” he recalled. “We had several moments of terror with him… For the parents of a girl like Ivana, it is absolutely horrible. We lost our daughter to him.”
Ivana’s mother, Irene, said she and her husband “thought” about the possibility that Comager would one day kill their daughter, and both were devastated to learn that their granddaughter had been the victim.
The paternal grandmother has also offered statements about the gruesome past of her detained son. Comager had a history of mental illness dating back to his teenage years, when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to his mother, Ashly Sanford.
Those disorders expressed themselves in antisocial behavior and violent outbursts, including a 2010 incident in which they witnessed their son strangle a cat in their home in Houston, Texas. “He used to come to my house and threaten my grandson,” added her mother. “He used to tell her all kinds of demonic and devilish things. He scared me”.
Comager was charged with manslaughter and concealment of a human corpse. Paolozzi faces charges of concealing a human corpse and obstructing government administration, according to the New York police. Both were arrested on Monday.
Comager was detained after his father consulted with a priest and decided he had to “do the right thing” and call the police over his granddaughter’s death, he reported. New York Post.
The grandfather had asked police to carry out a well-being check on the baby around 8pm on Sunday after he became suspicious over a phone call he had with his son. When police arrived at University Family Residence, a transitional housing shelter on University Ave. near W. 165th St., they quickly realized the baby was not with her parents.
After some questioning, one of them led police to a wooded area littered with trash, including a broken toilet seat on W. 161st St. near the Major Deegan Expressway, about three blocks from Yankee Stadium.
The couple had no history of abuse with the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) prior to Sunday. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In New York there is a safe haven law, which allows parents to relinquish a newborn up to 30 days old anonymously and without prosecution, at hospitals, churches, police or fire stations, and other designated spaces. They can also leave it with someone and immediately notify authorities of the infant’s location.
Several children have died in recent months in NYC victims of alleged abuse in their homes. If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being mistreated, especially if they are a minor or elderly person:
- Call 911 or 1.888.NYCWELL (1.888.692.9355).
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/