Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Wednesday, April 27, that a Bronx woman and her boyfriend were charged with murder and manslaughter in the context of the June 2021 death of the woman’s eight-year-old, autistic son.

 

According to the investigation, the defendants, Sharay Barney, 30, of East 166th Street in Morrisania, who was the biological mother of the child, and Michael Ransom, 33, of the same address and who was the child’s stepfather, were the sole caretakers of Joseph Barney, 8, a child who was autistic and non-verbal.

 

On June 1, 2021, Joseph was found unresponsive at the family home which, at the time, was on East 214th Street in the Williamsbridge section of the borough. Barney and Ransom took the child to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, as previously reported by Norwood News. Both defendants allegedly admitted they had not sought medical attention for the child even when they knew he was not eating and had been having difficulty breathing for approximately 24 hours before his death.

 

According to the investigation, the child’s body was covered in fresh and healing wounds consistent with blunt force trauma, and ligature marks to the wrists which suggested he had been restrained. Additional injuries also indicated child abuse. At death, Joseph weighed 40 pounds and was four feet, two inches tall, less than the weight an eight-year-old child should be, according to medical examiners.

 

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Joseph had died of battered child syndrome, specifically starvation and head trauma. The defendants were arrested on March 21, as reported.

 

Clark said the defendants were arraigned on Wednesday on second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas, and were remanded in custody.

 

In the context of the announcement, she said, “These defendants allegedly starved and beat an eight-year-old autistic child. The boy was severely malnourished and had marks and scars all over his body.” The district attorney added, “The defendants allegedly did not seek medical attention for the boy. They have now been charged with murder and manslaughter. We will seek justice for the little boy, whose life was cut short so tragically.”

 

The case is being prosecuted by assistant district attorney, Astrid Borgstedt, trial counsel in the child abuse/sex crimes bureau; and Danielle Pascale, deputy chief of the child abuse/sex crimes bureau; under the overall supervision of Adrienne Giunta, deputy chief of the special victims division; and Joseph Muroff, chief of the special victims division.

 

The district attorney thanked Felicity Lung, deputy bureau chief of the community justice bureau; assistant district attorney, Rebecca Farrar, of the child abuse/sex crimes bureau; and case discovery analyst, Yolanda Siders-Lewis, of the child abuse/sex crimes bureau.

 

Clark also thanked NYPD Detectives James McBrown of the 47^th precinct and Brianna Constantino of Bronx homicide for their assistance in the investigation.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

The defendants are due back in court on August 17.