NY- Mom suffocates 4yr old son in bitter divorce/Manuela Morgado, 46, is thought to have asphyxiated little Jason before trying in vain to take her own life too.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The ex-wife of a prominent New York orthopedic surgeon has been arrested after allegedly killing their four-year-old son amid a bitter custody battle between them over the boy.
Manuela Morgado, 46, is thought to have asphyxiated little Jason before trying in vain to take her own life too.
Neighbors found her in a ‘catatonic’ state as she cradled his lifeless body and called the authorities who alerted her ex-husband Timothy Reish.
He rushed to her $400,000 condo and was heard frantically shouting: ‘Where is his mother?’
Miss Morgado was arrested and has been charged with second-degree murder in a crime that has shocked neighbors in her wealthy suburb of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York.
She and Dr Reish, 43, had been battling out for custody of Jason because he thought that the boy should be with him.
He lives in a $1.3m, four-bedroom home in Briarcliff Manor, also in Westchester.
According to the Westchester Journal News, one of his wife’s family members dialed 911 on Monday shortly after 10am when she went to her apartment to help her move.
Mamaroneck Village Police Detective Sandra DiRuzza said Miss Morgado and Jason were in a bedroom and that the boy was already dead.
His mother was in a ‘semi-conscious state’ and had written suicide notes which explained what she was doing and settling up her financial affairs.
Miss Morgado was taken for mental health evaluation and arraigned at Mamaroneck Village Court.
She is being held without bail and will return to court on Thursday. An autopsy on the boy is currently being carried out.
A source told the Journal News that the cause of Miss Morgado’s actions were ‘nothing obvious’.
The source said: ‘A family member came to help the mother move from the apartment and saw something wrong.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

MAMARONECK — A village mother charged with killing her 4-year-old son was in a custody dispute with the child’s father, who had reunited with his former wife and was battling her over the child’s school placement.

The mother, Manuela Maria Morgado, was seeking to have the boy removed from the Scarborough Presbyterian Children’s Center in Briarcliff Manor, the father’s hometown, her lawyer said.
She had recently learned that the boy, Jason Reish, had special needs and wanted him transferred to a nursery school in her hometown that she believed would better serve him and also be more convenient for her.
A judge in Family Court, however, decided it was too late to transfer the boy given that the school year was already starting.
“According to her family, that’s what really set her off,” a law enforcement source told The Journal News.
Morgado, 46, was found semiconscious and holding the lifeless child in a bedroom in her third-floor condo Monday morning. She is believed to have asphyxiated the boy, possibly by administering helium, before trying to kill herself by taking pills, the source said. Investigators found Benadryl and other drugs at the scene, along with syringes, though it’s still unknown which substances she took. They also found a gas canister.
She had been engaged in a Family Court battle with the boy’s father, Dr. Timothy Reish, a surgeon with the Insall Scott Kelly Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in New York City.
Morgado, a graphic designer for Direct Brands, and the boy’s father shared custody, with Jason rotating between households every other week.
“It was kind of a King Solomon agreement, which was not very practical as the child was reaching school age,” her lawyer, Dennis Light, said.
The latest dispute was over the child’s schooling. She wanted Jason placed in Mamaroneck Community Nursery School, but the judge opposed the immediate transfer.
“The decision to let the child attend Scarborough Presbyterian was because this was not resolved before school started,” Light said. “It was a burden to her to have to bring the child all the way to Briarcliff Manor two, maybe three times a week, when the child resided with her.”

How tragic. The ex-wife of a prominent Manhattan surgeon allegedly took the life of her own son before attempting to kill herself amid a bitter custody battle. Police found suicide notes at the scene. Manuela Morgado, 46, who was locked in a bitter custody battle with ex-husband Timothy Reish, was found cradling the lifeless body of her four-year-old son Jason at her New York condo on Oct. 1 after allegedly strangling him. When authorities arrived on the scene, the boy was already dead, and his mom was described as being in a “catatonic” state. Police believe she asphyxiated little Jason before attempting to take her own life. Manuela, who lives in the wealthy suburb of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, was arrested and has been charged with second-degree murder. The boy’s father, Dr. Reish, rushed to her condo when he was notified of the tragic news, and was heard frantically shouting, “where is his mother?” He and his ex-wife had been battling over custody of their son because he believed Jason should live with him. Dr. Reish is a respected member of the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine and the Arthroscopy Association of North America, and also lives nearby in Westchester. Police found suicide notes near the scene of the crime that detailed what the disturbed mother was doing and how she planned to arrange her finances. She was taken for a mental evaluation and is currently being held without bail. She is due in court on Oct. 4, and an autopsy is being performed on Jason. Neighbor Andrew Landau said he never noticed anything abnormal about the family, and knew Jason to be a nice kid. “I always used to say hello to him in the elevator,” he said. “He was a nice kid, a gorgeous kid, a really beautiful kid. And she was just a sweet person. There’s nothing bad I can say about her whatsoever,” he said. How tragic. Our thoughts are with Jason’s family during this horrific time.

Read More at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Manuela Morgado, age 46


Dec 20th, 2012
The woman accused of killing her 4-year-old son during a botched murder suicide attempt pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of second-degree murder.

Manuela Morgado, age 46, entered a plea of “not guilty” at the arraignment hearing before Judge Barry Warhit in County Court in White Plains. She will appear again in court January 10.

Morgado was arrested October 1 after police, alerted by a relative’s call, arrived at her Boston Post Road home to find her semiconscious and her son, Jason “Jake” Reish, dead.

The woman was in a bitter custody battle with the boy’s father, Dr. Timothy Reish and plotted to use helium gas to suffocate Jason on and then tried to commit suicide with a drug overdose.

“Manuela Morgado took the life of her own innocent four-year-old son in a horribly misguided attempt to make sure the child’s father would not have anything more to do with their lives,” Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore said in a statement after the arraignment. “The fact that the defendant over an extended period of time, methodically planned, purchased the materials used and carried out the crime, made the ultimate outcome all the more tragic.”

Morgado is being held without bail at Westchester County Jail in Valhalla.
 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Jason “Jake” Reish


Oct 8th, 2012
Unimaginable pain” and shock was how the father of a 4-year-old killed by his mother described his feelings at the boy’s funeral.

Dr. Timothy Reish spoke to more than 200 mourners who gathered at Scarborough Presbyterian Church on Friday morning to say farewell to Jason “Jake” Reish.

Different family members spoke about the child, the joy he brought to the family and how he will never be forgotton.
Speaking alongside his son’s small white coffin, Reish said “This will take the strength of 10 billion men to get through.”

Jake Reish was found dead in the arms of his mother, Manuela Morgado, in an apparent murder suicide. She and the boy’s father were in the middle of a custody battle over where the child would attend school.

“I stand up here today in unimaginable pain. I can’t simply imagine anything more difficult for a father to have to do. This is a hurt that will never, ever heal. But we will get through this tragedy because of the people here today. I’m a truly blessed man,” Dr. Reish said, referring to his family and friends.

The Rev. Tim Ives, pastor of the church, told the mourners, “I am sorry that we are gathered today for this reason. I don’t think it gets any darker than this. The sadness and tragedy that we have all felt the last two days is overwhelming. To say anything else would be impossible. It’s a truth … but it’s not the whole truth. It’s not the whole story. It doesn’t end here. Darkness never wins. My faith tells me so. If faith can’t make the difference on a day like this, there’s no reason for it”


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

April 9, 2013
 
MAMARONECK - Newly released court documents detail the final moments of a 4-year-old's life shortly before his mother killed him.
Court papers show Manuela Morgado was determined to kill her son Jake, telling him she loved him over and over as she ended his life. Morgado reportedly taped the boy's arms and legs, trying in vain to drug him and suffocate him with helium before ultimately choking him to death last October.

The papers show Jake Morgado reportedly fought back until he stopped breathing. He was found dead on the morning of Oct. 1, lying next to his semiconscious mother, who had overdosed on Xanax after the incident.

Morgado was in the middle of a bitter custody dispute with Jake Morgado's father, Timothy Reish, a prominent orthopedic surgeon.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]