{"id":111276,"date":"2026-01-24T18:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111276\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T18:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:08:07","slug":"cops-checked-bronx-home-where-twin-boys-were-found-starving-saw-no-evidence-of-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111276\/","title":{"rendered":"Cops checked Bronx home where twin boys were found starving, saw no evidence of abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police made multiple wellness checks at the Bronx apartment where two teenage boys were found in an extreme state of malnourishment<\/a>, but found no evidence of abuse in the years leading up to the heartbreaking discovery, NYPD officials said Saturday.<\/p>\n

The boys, 14-year-old twins, were found emaciated \u2014 with one child weighing 54 pounds and the other just 51 pounds \u2014 after multiple anonymous complaints led a child abuse specialist with the Administration for Children\u2019s Services to their mother\u2019s Mosholu Ave. apartment in Riverdale<\/a> on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n

After seeing the boys\u2019 shocking condition, the ACS agent called 911 and medics rushed the adolescents to Montefiore Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>, where they were treated for three months, according to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\"LissetteLissette Soto Domenech’s Mosholu Ave. apartment in the Bronx is pictured on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Kerry Burke \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Multiple neighbors told the Daily News they grew concerned for the boys after going years without seeing them outside their mother\u2019s apartment, with one man saying he made a number of 911 calls requesting wellness checks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe called the cops three times to check on the kids over the years \u2014 three times. The whole building knows [there were kids.] But no one would see them,\u201d said the neighbor, a 33-year-old man who lives down the hall from the two boys, who asked that his name be withheld.<\/p>\n

The NYPD confirmed that officers were dispatched to the apartment on three occasions between Nov. 2024 and March 2025. Each time, officers observed the children, spoke to neighbors and spoke with their mother, but found no evidence of abuse, police said.<\/p>\n

The 911 calls that brought police to the home were made anonymously and asked for a \u201cwellness check,\u201d a police source with knowledge of the case said.<\/p>\n

No complaints about the family were made to police through the city\u2019s 311 system, the source said. Any 311 complaints about potential child abuse would have been directed to the\u00a0New York Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse, which would have directed ACS to investigate.<\/p>\n

Investigators later determined that the boys\u2019 mother, Lissette Soto Domenech, kept her children \u201cvirtually housebound\u201d for nine years, depriving them of medical care and an education while filing false reports to the city\u2019s Department of Education that her sons were being homeschooled.<\/p>\n

Only baby food, baby bottles and toddler toys were found inside the home, where the teenage boys were discovered garbed in diapers, according to a law enforcement source. There was no food or belongings appropriate for children of their age.<\/p>\n

Doemenech wasn\u2019t arrested when the children were found and visited her children while they were in the hospital, sources said. She was taken into custody on Tuesday when she was arraigned on a 13-count indictment charging her with assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child for the abuse she inflicted on her two boys, Clark said.<\/p>\n

Domenech pleaded not guilty and was released after posting $25,000 cash bail.<\/p>\n

Her children, once released from the hospital, were placed in foster care, officials said.<\/p>\n

Citing state law, ACS wouldn\u2019t divulge how long they were investigating complaints about Domenech\u2019s family before the horrific home visit in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur top priority is the safety and well-being of New York City\u2019s children,\u201d an agency spokeswoman said. \u201cWhile State law prohibits ACS from sharing case information, we are grateful to our child protective teams for the life-saving work they do every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although neighbors never saw Domenech\u2019s sons, they said the boys could be heard screaming at all hours of the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe complained many, many times to the city about the whole situation,\u201d said one neighbor, a 40-year-old woman who lives below the family\u2019s apartment and declined to share her name. \u201cI live below her. And for years and years, I heard the kids screaming, and always running till 2, 3 in the morning. Constant screaming and yelling to the kids all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never seen the kids outside or not even in the elevator. Nothing. Never. She never took them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Domenech kept her children out of sight, neighbors said her elderly husband was in and out of the apartment delivering food and other groceries as often as three times a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was never out. She never said hi to anyone. Only the husband, who was a very sweet man,\u201d said Domenech\u2019s downstairs neighbor. \u201cHe was the only one who keep bringing food to her. We see him all the time with bags from the grocery with just coffee or sandwiches. That was the only food that we saw he bringing in to the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

The husband never stayed with his wife, preferring to sleep in his car or on a couch in the building\u2019s lobby, neighbors said.<\/p>\n

Multiple neighbors said that Domenech\u2019s husband recently died, though it was unclear when that was.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all concerned when he passed away, because it\u2019s like he was the only one we see all the time,\u201d the downstairs neighbor said.<\/p>\n

Another neighbor described Domenech as a germophobe, who would disinfect everything her husband brought to the apartment. On Thursday, paper towels could be found stuffed under Domenech\u2019s door.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything her husband brought had to be disinfected,\u201d Valentina Ndou, 47, said. \u201cShe would throw out the paper towel if she thought it wasn\u2019t disinfected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another apartment located next door was filled with garbage, according to multiple neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw it inside,\u201d said Domenech\u2019s downstairs neighbor. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe my eyes. It was just full of garbage. There were no furniture, nothing. Just garbage. Like, piles of garbage, trash bags. It was like a horror movie, and then she lived (next door).\u201d<\/p>\n

The stink from the second apartment led one neighbor to place an air purifier in the hallway.<\/p>\n

After the children were taken away, Domenech began venturing out of her apartment for the first time in years, one neighbor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never saw her. But then, after what happened, she started coming out. After they took the kids, she started doing laundry, ordering packages \u2014 like nothing ever happened \u2014 and saying hi. Just in the last month,\u201d said Domenech\u2019s neighbor from down the hall.<\/p>\n

Domenech is due back in court on Feb. 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police made multiple wellness checks at the Bronx apartment where two teenage boys were found in an extreme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,265,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-111276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-sub-county-region","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}