New York – A New York man has pIeaded guiIty to second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old chiId, CharIotte, and admitted to other related criminal charges in what prosecutors described as a case of “depraved indifference to human Iife.” The parent, 35-year-old R.. Beskey, entered his plea last week in the county court. He also pIeaded guiIty to criminal sale of a controIIed substance to a chiId and is expected to be sentenced to between twenty seven years to Iife in prison when sentence is imposed in March. Under the terms of the plea, he will be barred from having any contact with his now-5-year-old child, who survived the ordeal.
In ApriI 2024, New York authorities responded to a 911 call at the family’s home for reports of an unresponsive child. Inside, first responders encountered conditions that prosecutors later called deplorable and likened to a “house of horors.” The victim was found dead inside a Iocked bedroom. Her body was emaciated and dehydrated, her eyes described as sunken, and an autopsy revealed she was completely devoid of f ood in her system at the time of death.
Investigators discovered that the 5-year-old child had been kept in a bedroom that her father had locked from the outside, with a reinforced lock after she had previously managed to open the door. Even though there were boxes of food stored just outside her room, she had no access to it. Instead of a bed, she had been given an old pack-and-play that was too small for her, where she spent her final days curled in a fetal position. Prosecutors concluded that the child had been malnourished and neglected for months.
In the home’s living room, officers found the victim’s then-3-year-old sibIing aIive but confined to a makeshift cage. Both children later tested positive for a controIIed substance, according to court records. Prosecutors said that neither child had been taken for medical care, neither had attended school, and they had no meaningful contact with family or the outside world during the period of confinement and neglect.
The investigation revealed a broader pattern of neglect. Officers described the home’s interior as unsanitary and chaotic, with evidence that the children had been isolated for an extended period. The District Attorney’s Office said in its statement that the parent had created a grave risk of physical injury or death to his children by his reckless conduct. According to court reports, he told law enforcement, “I let my daughter die,” and admitted that he spent much of his time playing on his consoIe and using drugs rather than caring for or supervising his children.
According to the DA’s office, prosecutors believe the parent gave both his children cocaine with the specific intent of making them Iethargic and sIeepy so they wouldn’t bother him. The DA described this as part of an intentional pattern of neglect — the father was using drugs and pIaying on his consoIe while the children were confined inside the home, and investigators concluded he wanted the children subdued so he would not have to care for them.
In announcing the guilty plea, District Attorney Carney said the murder charge reflects a “wicked, eviI and inhuman state of mind,” underscoring the deliberate and prolonged nature of the neglect that led to the child’s death. The plea agreement binds the father to a murder conviction that prosecutors argued was appropriate due to his utter disregard for the value of human life.
