Foster parents blame 3-year-old Kyle Smith for his death

The heartless foster parents charged in the slaying of 3-year-old Kyle Smith told cops it was all the little boy's fault - and that they thought he was faking it.

Nymeen Cheatham and boyfriend Lamar Martin waited until it was too late before calling 911, prosecutors said at their arraignment Tuesday.

"That child had been dead for at least five hours before the 911 call," Assistant District Attorney Catherine Dagonese told a judge.

"Not a part of his body spared ... this child was beaten to a pulp," she said.

Bruises covered everything from the bridge of his nose to the bottom of his toes, the top of his ankles, legs, arms, hands, back, buttocks, shoulders, everywhere, sources said.

Court documents filed at the arraignment reveal how savage the couple's alleged treatment of the boy was - and their bizarre reasoning for why they did it.

"I didn't know if he was playing a trick, because he does that a lot," Cheatham, 31, told cops. "He put on more of a performance. ... I popped Kyle open hand because he was acting out."

"I didn't do anything wrong," Cheatham insisted.

Then she blamed the tiny victim: "Kyle is a troubled kid, he is difficult to handle and is always hurting himself, jumping from bed to bed and throwing himself on the ground."

Cheatham and Martin, 23, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges in the June 6 beating death in their Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, apartment.

Cheatham, who had her own four children taken away in a Texas case, was taking care of the tot after his mother left town.

The family had attended a funeral the day before Kyle died and he continued "acting out" when family and friends came over to their Patchen Ave. home afterward.

Cheatham "asked Kyle why he is putting on a show," she said. "He was very dramatic, falling out and crying."

That night, he was kicking the bars on his bed and she tried to "calm Kyle down" because Martin had to work in the morning.

"I put Kyle in a time out and had him do push-ups," she said, also admitting to hitting him with a hairbrush. "When he was doing push-ups he banged his head a few times and he kept acting out."

Martin admitted he, too, "popped" the child that morning, made him stand in the corner, march in place and ordered him to do push-ups.

"I would have to be made of stone not to have some distress when I read the nature of the injuries. Nevertheless, these defendants are presumed innocent," Justice Gustin Reichbach said in denying bail but adding that he might reconsider at a later date.

Tags: 3-year-old, Foster, Kyle, Smith, blame, death, for, his, parents

Comment by IM WAT U CALL CHANGE on July 6, 2008 at 12:44pm: DEM MUTHA FUCKAS LYIN DEY KNO DAMN WELL IF ANY KID JUMP OFF SOMETHIN HE WUDNT HAVE Bruises LYKE DAT. KUM ON MAN KIDS NOW N DAY DO MORE KRAZY SHIT THEN DAT KRAZY BITCHES DEY SHUD HAVE TOOK DAT BOY TO THA PARK DID SOMETHIN HE WAS BORED DAMN I WUD HAVE HAD TO MAKE FUN BY DOIN SOMETHIN TOO DAMN I HATE BLK PPL LIKE DAT I REALLY DO ITS LIKE THA MOR CASES U SEE NOW N DAYS WIT PPL KILLIN DEY KIDS IS COMIN FROM BLK PPL DATS WAT I DONT LIKE

Comment by monie on July 6, 2008 at 1:04pm: i believe that may be the lil boy wasnt happy in that home.he probably need some help kids express their self in different ways.aint no way in this world a 3yrs old child no how to hurt them self where they may die.this need to be invest by the polices. as for the foster parnets they didnt have enought parenting classes because they didnt try to help they baby boy.

Comment by cye young on July 6, 2008 at 2:10pm: man we all fucked up and people say obama tring to make it were we can get more money and shit like that ya better invest in a cannon im telling yall shit fucked up

Comment by tommy on July 6, 2008 at 6:22pm: Bullet For Them

Comment by datnigga21 on July 7, 2008 at 1:31am: they deserve everything coming to them...........

Comment by charles whetstone on July 7, 2008 at 3:31am: If the foster parents knew that the child had problems, they should have had a doctor's care plan on how to deal with a troubled child. Beating is not always the answer to getting a child to do what you want. That child obviously had some previous problems and should have been seen after better. There is no way a child of 3yrs old can harm himself that way and i believe that he was beaten out of anger, due to the fact that the parents didn't no how to control the situation. There was no excuse for this to happen when there are people that specialize in helping troubled children. Please don't let this go unnoticed for the sake of this innocent child. Thank You, Chynadoll.

Comment by Frank on July 7, 2008 at 4:35am: if they get let go this world has went bonkers...and i think they shoudl die the same way the boy died...n what the fuck is they on having a 3 year old do push-ups and march in place fuck dat now an old fashoind ass whooppin mayb but not what they did to him horrible

Comment by Gunz on July 7, 2008 at 11:10am: They needa go

Comment by banana on July 7, 2008 at 11:21pm: they say he is actin out HE IS ONLY THREE YEARS OLD ITS CALLED NORMAL BEHAVIOR

Comment by Ol' E Deezy on July 8, 2008 at 5:14pm: how da fuck do can a three year do push ups... if he ain't listening whenyou tell him to be quiet he damn sure ain't gonna do no push ups.... in fact i bet a three year old wouldn't understand the concept anyway... dumb fucks throw'em in the dugeon