A 25-year-old mother has been charged after New York City police found her 1-month-old son dead inside a duffel bag in a closet at a Flatbush apartment Saturday night, authorities said. Officers responding to a grandmother’s request for a wellness check pronounced the child dead at the scene.
Investigators identified the mother as Gynae Kendall of Flatbush and the infant as Adonnys Kendall. Detectives say the case remains open while the Office of Chief Medical Examiner determines how and when the baby died. Kendall was arrested Sunday and arraigned Monday night on a charge of concealment of a human corpse. A judge released her under supervision and ordered a mental health evaluation. The discovery, made amid weekend winter weather and widespread power and transit disruptions, has stirred the neighborhood and focused attention on how the child’s remains went unnoticed until relatives asked police to check on him.
Police were called just after 7:30 p.m. Saturday to an apartment building on Veronica Place near Beverly Road, according to officials familiar with the investigation. Officers entered a seventh-floor unit connected to the family and began searching after relatives reported they had not seen the baby for days. Inside a bedroom closet, officers found a duffel bag that held the infant, who was “unconscious and unresponsive,” language used in the NYPD’s initial summary. Emergency medical personnel pronounced the boy dead shortly after officers arrived. Court papers describe the remains as “wrapped in a duffel bag inside of a closet,” and note a “strong odor of decomposition” when police opened the storage area, a detail that helped set the initial timeline for investigators reviewing phone records, building cameras and prior calls for service at the address.
Officials identified the baby as Adonnys Kendall, born Dec. 2. Police said they first went to the Veronica Place address for a wellness check requested by the child’s maternal grandmother at about 7:36 p.m. Saturday. After the discovery, detectives canvassed the building and interviewed family members and neighbors. Investigators say no preliminary cause of death has been determined; the medical examiner will perform testing, including toxicology, to establish the manner and cause. Attorney information for Kendall was not immediately available. Police have not announced any other arrests. It remains unknown how long the infant had been in the bag or whether anyone else entered the apartment in the days before officers arrived.
The charge filed so far, concealment of a human corpse, is often used by prosecutors while medical findings are pending. Investigators typically wait for autopsy results before considering additional counts. In this case, officials said the child was pronounced dead at the home and moved only for post-scene examination. The weekend incident unfolded as crews were still clearing snow and ice across the borough, complicating routine response times. Even so, officers secured the scene, logged the closet as the primary location, and collected bedding and clothing for laboratory testing. Detectives also pulled video from hallway and lobby cameras to chart entries to the seventh-floor unit, a standard step for building cases in multiunit complexes.
Kendall was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Monday night and released under supervision, according to court officials. The judge ordered a mental health evaluation and set her next appearance for late May. Prosecutors said they will confer with the medical examiner once initial findings are available and will review evidence gathered from the apartment. The district attorney’s office can seek to present the case to a grand jury after additional reports arrive, or keep the current charge in place while the investigation continues. Police said updates on the manner and cause of death will come from the medical examiner when testing is complete.
On Veronica Place, uniformed officers and crime scene technicians moved in and out of the building late Saturday and into Sunday. Residents described a heavy police presence, with hallways sealed off and elevators briefly held for investigators. Printed notices reminded tenants to contact management if they observed anything related to the apartment in question. Several neighbors said they saw relatives gathering outside as officers worked inside the unit. Court records say the mother gave “varying inconsistent statements about the child’s whereabouts” before the search, prompting detectives to broaden interviews to include extended family and acquaintances while they reconstructed the week leading up to the wellness check.
As of Tuesday, authorities said the cause and manner of death were still under review and no additional charges had been filed. The investigation’s next milestone is the medical examiner’s preliminary report and Kendall’s scheduled court date in May. Officials said they will release further details when laboratory and autopsy results are in.
Author note: Last updated January 27, 2026.