Gruesome discovery

Boy found alone in vermin-infested apartment

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Thanks to a FedEx driver making a routine delivery, police said they rescued a 5-year-old boy from what they described as miserable circumstances last week. And his parents are under arrest.

After dropping off a package at a 3054 Kingsbridge Ave., apartment, the unidentified employee flagged down a police officer, telling him he noticed a young child there in the apartment — alone. 

Police found the 5-year-old, who they said was malnourished, unkempt, unsupervised and neglected, left with no food in the fridge.

But that wasn’t all, police said. The apartment itself was a frightful mess — infested with bed bugs, roaches, flies and rats scurrying about, with feces smeared on the walls. It wasn’t just home to the young boy, but police later learned that a 15-year-old boy, and two girls — 12 and 13 — also lived there, but were at school at the time.

Police arrested the children’s mother, Charlotte Lewis, 48, at Montefiore Medical Center, where she worked as a nurse. Their father, 59-year-old Wilfred Lewis — a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee and college professor — was told to go to the 50th Precinct when he picked up his kids from school. When he arrived at the Kingsbridge facility, he was arrested. 

Both were charged with four counts of failure to exercise control of a minor, while Wilfred Lewis also was charged with endangering a child.

After a thorough hospital evaluation, the kids are now in the custody of the city’s children services administration, according to police.

It’s difficult to tell for how long the boy had been left in the home alone, police said, because they’re uncertain as to what time the parents left for work that day. 

The case is still under investigation not only by children services but also the district attorney.

The parents were arraigned Saturday, where the judge set bail at $15,000 each.

Police, 50th Precinct, Charlotte Lewis, Wilfred Lewis, Kingsbridge, crime, Zak Kostro