A Bronx father has been charged with beating his 8-month-old son to death, cops said yesterday.
John Rodriguez was arrested after baby Elijah died at Lincoln Hospital Tuesday of injuries to his abdomen.
The child had suffered a broken arm two months earlier, cops said, adding that the Administration for Children’s Services was notified at the time.
Elijah’s mother, Wanda Rosado, and outraged relatives shouted at Rodriguez and rushed at him as cops led him from the 42nd Precinct station house.
“I wanted to kill him,” Rosado said adding, “He will suffer for this.”
Rosado, who was Rodriguez’s girlfriend, fainted outside the station house, but was quickly revived.
Rodriguez and Rosado had been staying with their baby in a homeless shelter in West Farms.
Maret Mans, 52, who lives in the shelter, said, “When I’d see the dad, he looked like the typical father. What happened is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I just can’t believe it.”
Mans’ son saw Rodriguez on Tuesday and the father told him, “I think the baby’s sick.
“My son said he was laying in the carriage very lethargic, just lifeless and unresponsive, and his eyes were rolled up in his head,” Mans said.
She said Rodriguez was “controlling,” adding she heard the couple “arguing all the time.”
“You could see he was jealous,” Mans said. “If she’s not here, he’d look around asking everybody, ‘Where is she?’ ”
Annette Santiago, 34, a friend of Rosado, said the mother was “scared” of Rodriguez.
“She wanted to get rid of him. I told her that’s not the type of man who should be around her kid, even if he’s the father,” Santiago said.
Additional reporting by C.J. Sullivan and Philip Messing