Damion Comager charged with murdering 3-month-old daughter found dead in woods near Major Deegan Expressway
NEW YORK -- A Bronx man was charged with murder after his 3-month-old daughter's body was found discarded in a wooded area near the Major Deegan Expressway.
Police arrested Damion Comager, 23, after the body of Genevieve Comager was discovered steps from a pedestrian overpass at West 161st Street at around 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
Comager was charged with murder, manslaughter and concealment of a human corpse.
"I loved my daughter and I'm sorry," Comager said as he was walked out of the police precinct Monday.
"I think it was an accident. I mean, I still had to say something. I couldn't say nothing," said Donald Comager, the suspect's father.
Donald Comager said he called police after being concerned for his granddaughter and that his son confessed.
"I asked him why, and he told me that he shook her and he laid her down because she was screaming, and he went to sleep because he was tired. He went to sleep, then woke up and she was stiff, she was cold," he said. "My son, he might think I didn't do the right thing. But I did the right thing."
Twenty-year-old Ivana Paolozzi, the baby's mother, was charged with concealment of a human corpse and obstructing governmental administration.
Detectives said the baby and her parents were staying at a shelter on University Avenue, not far from where her body was found.
"On occasion I would see them coming out of the shelter. They were pretty nice, I said good morning," said neighbor Gilbert Velez. "I have grandchildren, and it saddens me ... This baby could have been somebody special."
"I'm a mother and it's scary just to think about it," said neighbot Gabriella Cunalata.
The medical examiner said the baby's cause of death was still under investigation and additional testing is required.