Hub sect baby's death probed: Body held in NYC as officials check for neglect

Boston Herald/October 29, 2005
By David Wedge

The baby of a South End couple in a controversial religious sect died in a Brooklyn hospital after coming down with a high fever and her body has been held in a New York City morgue for three weeks while officials probe the death.

Two-year-old Seraiah Yisrail's fever soared to 104 degrees while visiting Brooklyn with her Black Israelite parents for the Rosh Hashana holiday. Parents Gemariah Yisrail and Sheree Morgan called for an ambulance and the baby died an hour after arriving at Brooklyn's Woodhull Hospital on Oct. 5, officials said.

New York City homicide detectives responded to the hospital but the probe into the baby's death is being handled by New York Child and Family Services, sources said.

Investigators are probing whether neglect may have played a role in the baby's death, according to two informed sources, including a New York City homicide detective familiar with the case.

An autopsy did not reveal a cause of death and officials are awaiting further test results, said Grace Brugess of the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. New York Child Services officials refused to comment.

The baby's body remained in the New York City morgue yesterday while funeral homes in Brooklyn and Boston tried to have the body released so the family can have a funeral. Black Israelites normally bury their dead within three to five days.

George Lopes, funeral director for Davis Funeral Home, said, "We're trying to get the body out of there but we can't. (The parents) want to know why is it taking so long. They're talking about red tape. I don't want to hear that when there's a baby sitting in a morgue in New York."

The parents, who have four other children, have a history with the Massachusetts Department of Social Services after allegations that they were neglecting their kids by not taking them to see doctors, DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro said.

The DSS case was later closed after the couple agreed to yearly checkups for the kids, a source said.

Black Israelites profess to be Hebrews who follow the Old Testament, don't believe in conventional medicine and follow a strict vegan diet, often eating only raw foods.

Critics have called them a dangerous, racist cult, and members have been convicted of randomly murdering and beating whites, and abusing and killing children.

Reached at home, the baby's mother declined to comment, while the child's father told a reporter: "You don't have correct information" about the case.

Massachusetts social workers met with the family after New York authorities notified DSS of the baby's death. Monteiro said DSS took no action. "It's really just a tragic death," she said. "All indications are this is just a child who got sick and died. On the surface, it does not look like neglect or abuse."

Monteiro described the family as "very loving" and said New York officials handling the case have provided little information.

"We're satisfied here in Boston until we hear otherwise from New York," she said. "We're waiting for answers as well."