September 2, 2025
Court papers stated that Imani-Dior was placed on a ventilator
A baby from the Bronx, Imani-Dior Monique Mitchell, is fighting for her life after she was repeatedly hit in the head by Jerome Thomas, the boyfriend of the baby’s mother.
According to The New York Daily News, one-year-old Imani-Dior is in the hospital after police officers responding to a 911 phone call discovered her semiconscious. She was taken to Harlem Hospital after officers arrived around 9:30 p.m. Aug. 28, after being beaten by the 19-year-old Thomas, who is the boyfriend of 25-year-old LeNesha Mitchell, the girl’s mother. Thomas has been charged with felony assault and child endangerment.
Imani-Dior was initially listed in critical but stable condition. Her face and head were badly swollen, especially around her bruised left eye. When officers responded to the 911 call, she was struggling to breathe.
“This is like something out of a movie,” Mitchell said. “She was the light; she changed me. She made me feel more confident about myself as a first-time mother. I was learning from her. She was happy, smart, funny.”
Mitchell’s sister, who did not identify herself, told the media outlet that Imani-Dior is “basically brain-dead” and the family had 24 hours to determine what they were going to do.
“When she went into the ambulance, she was stable and still breathing on her own, but she was going into shock and having difficulty breathing,” she said. “We have 24 hours to figure out what we are going to do. My niece is basically brain-dead.”
Court papers stated that Imani-Dior was placed on a ventilator and life support and had extensive subdural hemorrhaging on the right side of her head. Swelling and intracranial pressure caused brain herniation, where doctors removed part of her skull to relieve the pressure, due to the injuries she suffered.
Thomas did admit to the police that he struck the girl, claiming he hit her twice on the side of the head with a “heavy hand.” He was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court and ordered held without bail; he is due back in court on Sept. 4.
LeNesha said she had been dating Thomas for four months, but he is not Imani-Dior’s father.
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