NYPD Investigating ‘Suspicious’ Death Of 12-Year-Old Brooklyn Boy After He Was Attacked For $1

The New York City Police Department is investigating the death of a 12-year-old Brooklyn boy.

Romy Vilsaint’s death is considered suspicious by investigators, who believe he was being bullied and beat up at school. According to his family, he had been attacked twice in two days at his school, PS 361.

“He stated that he got jumped by two kids on Wednesday, and on Thursday, he got hit in the back of the head real hard,” Vilsaint’s cousin Roodwiny Exantus told CBS2. “The principal asked the kid why he did that. The kids were like, he got paid a dollar to do it … He had a severe headache, and he had to spend the rest of the day in the nurse’s office in the school.”

On Friday morning, emergency responders were called to the Flatbush apartment where Vilsaint lived with his father and relatives. When they arrived, the boy was losing consciousness. He was transported to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Exantus remembers his cousin as popular and doesn’t understand who would want to hurt him. 

“If it was a bully situation, that’s what led to that fight; that has to stop,” he said.

Vilsaint moved to Brooklyn from his native Haiti in 2017 with his father. Two of his sisters also moved with them to New York. His mother and three of his sisters remain in Haiti, according to the New York Post. 

On Saturday, the Medical Examiner said the cause of death is pending further tests. There were no obvious signs of trauma, according to The Post.