A handful of family members quietly gathered along East Mosholu Parkway North at Decatur Avenue in Norwood on Sunday, Oct. 15, to mourn the passing of Delilah Annabelle Rolon, who police say died days before her second birthday from carbon monoxide poisoning in Syracuse, New York, as recently reported.

 

Rolon left The Bronx three years ago to work with his half-brother, Hector Santos, in Syracuse, making ceramic tiles and countertops. Delilah’s family said she and her parents had been evicted on Sept. 25 from their Syracuse apartment and had been sleeping inside their car on Sept. 27 when Delilah died. Her father, former Norwood resident, Joshua Rolon, 36, and his partner, Delilah Rodriguez, 39, the baby’s mother, were seriously injured from the same fumes, were hospitalized and recovered. Social service officials in Syracuse say the family were offered alternative accommodation after being evicted, but never showed up. They family dispute this.

 

According to the Syracuse Police Department (SPD), police and fire units were called to 117 Edtim Road in Syracuse at 9.04 a.m. on Sept. 27 for a report of “unconscious persons inside of a vehicle.” SPD said all three were transported to local hospitals. According to a Sept. 27 report by localsyr.com, officials were examining the young family’s nearly 20-year-old vehicle and an autopsy will determine the infant’s exact cause of death.

 

Bill Fitzpatrick, Onondaga County District Attorney, was quoted as saying that a preliminary forensic examination of the vehicle showed there had been a problem with the catalytic converter, and that attempts had been made to seal it to prevent gasses from escaping.

A spokesperson for the SPD said of the incident, “Despite resuscitation efforts, the female toddler was pronounced dead at University Hospital.” Both the SPD and Rolon’s mother said both he and his partner were initially reported to be in serious condition but said both have since recovered.

 

A planned local funeral in Norwood arranged by family members was cancelled at the last minute by the baby’s parents, who decided to return to Syracuse and hold a private cremation there instead. In a social media post announcing the memorial, a family member wrote, “Funeral was cancelled by parents. They want a service for them and baby only.”

 

 

Delilah’s tragic death is the second heart-wrenching death for the Norwood family in less than a year. As previously reported, on Dec. 18, 2022, Angel “Pookie” Cuasant, Rolon’s half-brother, died in a hail of gunfire inside a Fordham Manor bodega located at East 194th Street and Briggs Avenue. On April 5, police arrested Andres Latorre, 37, who was charged in connection with Cuasant’s murder. Latorre was due back in court on Nov. 9.

 

Norwood News asked the Bronx District Attorney’s Office how Latorre has pleaded in connection with his legal case. We did not receive an immediate response. A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

On the same day as the memorial event for Baby Delilah, as reported, a separate remembrance service was also held at Our Lady of Angels church on Webb Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights for one-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici who, as reported, tragically died of apparent fentanyl poisoning at Divino Niño Daycare Center in Kingsbridge Heights on Friday, Sept. 15. Read our previous coverage on the Divino Niño Daycare Center tragedy here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here

 

Read our previous coverage on subsequent fentanyl drug and arms busts reported in recent weeks here, here, here and here.

 

NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) provides training and regularly updated information on how to obtain and administer naloxone (Narcan). Click here for more information.

 

A GoFundMe page had been set up to cover funeral expenses for Baby Delilah. Those wishing to donate can visit the site at https://www.gofundme.com/f/funeral-expenses-for-my-niece-delilah-rolon.