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Child thrown from Brooklyn building by mentally ill older brother: police

The New York Daily News - 9/29/2018

Sept. 29--A 4-year-old Brooklyn boy was flung seven stories to his death by a mentally-ill older brother from the roof of their apartment building early Saturday, police said.

The body of little Shimron Smith was discovered in the concrete courtyard behind the family's Flatlands apartment after the brother flagged down a police car -- and almost immediately confessed to the heinous crime, sources told the Daily News.

Discarded trash bags and a stroller flanked the body when police arrived around 3:30 a.m. Neighbors on Nostrand Ave. reported hearing a loud boom break the silence in the middle of the night.

"It's very inhuman. Too inhuman," said John Okoh, whose family lives in the building. "They ought to have controlled the person who is sick."

No charges were immediately filed against the 20-year-old brother, who has a history of schizophrenia. Residents recounted seeing the alleged killer aimlessly walking up and down the building steps on prior occasions.

The older brother was "a little off, for the most part," said one neighbor in the building. "You can kind of see when a person is off."

The dead child, in contrast, was remembered as an bright kid with an outgoing demeanor.

"He was a very playful little boy," said the same neighbor. "He'd play outside, riding a bike. Just playing with family members."

A building worker, who asked for anonymity, said the boy was tossed from the roof. And a surveillance video reviewed by the NYPD shows Shimron's older brother, identified by residents as Shawn, taking the child up one flight of stairs from the sixth floor to the top floor.

"They can't see him going off (the building), but they can see them going up and (Shimron) falling," the worker explained.

Shawn Smith, after stopping the police car, initially told police that his kid brother was dead and gave cops their address. But he was soon in handcuffs after confessing to police what exactly happened on the roof, sources said.

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