STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Moments prior to alerting detectives with the Special Victims Unit about the death of an infant boy on Staten Island, officers with the NYPD\u2019s 123rd Precinct conferred in the hallway of the hospital where it was first reported. <\/p>\n
Footage of that conversation, along with a brief exchange between an officer and the deceased\u2019s parents, was viewed Friday in state Supreme Court, St. George, as part of a pre-trial hearing surrounding statements made in the video. <\/p>\n
The parents, Joseph Taranovich, 24, and Amanda Heben, 24, both face murder charges in connection with the July 20, 2024 death. They were arrested months later. An autopsy report determined the child, Joseph Heben Jr., died of malnourishment inside the couple\u2019s apartment on Main Street in Tottenville.<\/p>\n
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. <\/p>\n
The footage played in court Friday was pulled from the bodycam of NYPD Sgt. Eddie Wong, who testified on the witness stand. The veteran officer said he was patrol supervisor that morning for the 123rd Precinct, when he was informed by the desk officer of a deceased infant at the hospital. <\/p>\n
Judge Mario F. Mattei heard arguments Friday regarding statements in the body-worn camera footage and whether they should be allowed as evidence at trial. He reserved his decision and adjourned the proceedings to Jan. 26 in state Supreme Court, St. George. <\/p>\n
Taranovich\u2019s family has retained private counsel in the case, while Heben is being represented by a team of attorneys with the Legal Aid Society. <\/p>\n
Bodycam footage<\/p>\n
The body-worn camera footage shows a group of NYPD officers conferring in a hallway of Northwell Staten Island University Hospital in Prince\u2019s Bay. A nurse at the hospital also joins the conversation at one point. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat baby was not a healthy baby,\u201d the nurse said. <\/p>\n
The officers also discussed Heben\u2019s alleged statements to police in which she said she commonly was up all hours with the newborn baby and the couple\u2019s 2-year-old daughter. At the time, Taranovich was working night shifts as a tow truck driver. <\/p>\n
According to one officer, Heben stated she put the baby down at about 4 a.m., then when she went to check on him about an hour later, he wasn\u2019t breathing. The couple claimed she called 911 as well as Taranovich, and that Taranovich arrived home and drove the baby to the hospital. One officer noted that the 911 system had been \u201cout of whack\u201d that day. <\/p>\n
At one point in the video, Wong was escorted by a nurse into a room. The nurse pulled back a curtain revealing the infant\u2019s lifeless body. Moments later, Wong moved down the hallway to a different room where the defendants were watching over their older daughter who was a toddler at the time. <\/p>\n
Heben was seated on a bed. She was emotional, Wong recalled. Taranovich, before exiting the room with Wong, embraced Heben and gave her a kiss. <\/p>\n
In the hallway, Wong asked Taranovich in part about the couple\u2019s home address, which had been a point of confusion for officers. After a short exchange, Heben also exited the room.<\/p>\n
Heben asked a female officer if she could see her child\u2019s body. The officer told her she would have to wait until authorities had a chance to assess everything. Meanwhile, the couple\u2019s toddler bounced around the hallway, drawing forced smiles and baby talk from the adults.<\/p>\n
The defense suggested that Wong unfairly escalated things by requesting Special Victims detectives to the scene on what they deemed was a limited amount of first-hand information. <\/p>\n
They also asked Wong about his instructions to the couple in regard to remaining at the hospital. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey were free to leave, but I wanted the detectives to come and talk to them,\u201d said Wong. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, to you \u2018hang around\u2019 means free to leave?\u201d asked defense attorney Mario Gallucci. \u201cDid you tell them that?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d replied Wong. <\/p>\n
There also was debate over whether the 1-month-old child was named at the time of his death. <\/p>\n
Officers briefing Wong at the hospital stated the couple explained they were still deciding on a name. However, the defense on Friday suggested Taranovich told police at the time the boy\u2019s name was Joseph Jr. <\/p>\n
M.E. report<\/p>\n
Court filings at the time of the defendants\u2019 arrests alleged they failed to provide the child with adequate feeding and nutrition.<\/p>\n
In December, a city medical examiner\u2019s report deemed the baby had experienced dehydration, shrinkage of the thymus gland and a kidney infection.<\/p>\n
Attorneys for Heben have since questioned those findings. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to advocate for Amanda\u2019s release so that she can mourn this loss while at home with her family,\u201d said attorney Christina Paliogiannis in a previous statement. <\/p>\n
Gallucci said the following.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client completely denies these allegations; he was nothing more than a loving father, and I believe once our experts evaluate the matter the truth will come out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bail status changed<\/p>\n
Following the couples\u2019 arrests, they were initially ordered remanded on Rikers Island. During that time, according to Gallucci, his client was assaulted by guards at the facility. <\/p>\n
Then months into the case, an appellate court called for Heben\u2019s release to supportive housing under state supervision. Supportive housing in general is designed to provide stability and services to assist individuals facing various challenges. <\/p>\n
Soon after, a Staten Island judge allowed for Taranovich\u2019s release from Rikers on an electronic monitoring device. He was ordered to stay with family and permitted to leave the residence for work. <\/p>\n
Family members of both defendants have shown up to court regularly. They watched quietly from the gallery. <\/p>\n
Taranovich now has long hair, parted down the middle. He wore a black, short-sleeved shirt in court Friday. Heben wore a black pants suit, makeup and her hair was pulled back in a low-hanging ponytail. In some ways they were unrecognizable. In fact, Wong was unable to identify Heben from the witness stand Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Moments prior to alerting detectives with the Special Victims Unit about the death of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-95277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95277","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=95277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}