New York City briefs

Mother charged with killing her baby

A Queens woman was arrested a day after allegedly killing her 11-month-old baby over the weekend, police said yesterday.

Nicole Kelly, 22, told investigators that she was responsible for her baby's death and was charged with second-degree murder on Monday, police said.

Kelly wrapped her son, Kiam Felix Jr., in a bed sheet and watched him struggle to breathe or move on Sunday, according to the Queens district attorney's office. She then went to take a shower, police said.

When Kelly returned about a half-hour later, according to the Queens district attorney, the baby was blue.

Kiam was brought by someone else to Elmhurst General Hospital on Sunday about 4 p.m., police said. The exact cause of death was inconclusive, police said.

Kelly told investigators "I reached my breaking point, I didn't want him anymore," according to the Queens district attorney. Kelly was awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal court yesterday afternoon.

Skeletal remains

found in apartment

Police responding to a report of a foul odor inside a Brooklyn apartment made a disturbing discovery: skeletal remains.

After sorting through the 15th Avenue apartment in Borough Park early Monday evening, cluttered with garbage and refuse, they found a 28-year-old woman threatening to harm herself. Officers then found the skeletal remains of an unknown person about 5 p.m., police said.

The woman, who wasn't identified, was taken to Maimonides Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation, police said. No charges have been filed in the incident, and the cause of death for the person found is unknown.

Big growth expected for tech companies

The city's tech sector is already one of the strongest Big Apple industries, and a report released yesterday finds that boom won't be slowing down anytime soon.

The New York Technology Council, a nonprofit coalition that includes more than 450 tech companies in the city, found that 26 percent of its members say the industry will add more jobs by the end of the year.

Erik Grimmelmann, the council's executive director, said the growth doesn't only affect software, telecommunications and other startups that focus on technology but also firms that use the Internet, social media and other online tools to enhance their businesses.

Solitary for mentally ill raises objections

New York City's new jails commissioner and officials charged with overseeing city lockups have sparred over a decision to house mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement last month.

New York City Board of Correction members asked Commissioner Joseph Ponte on Tuesday why he moved as many as 47 mentally ill inmates into 23-hour confinement June 13.

They said some of the inmates didn't get their medications, had seizure disorders and were on psychotropic drugs that made them vulnerable in the non-air conditioned cells.

They repeatedly asked the commissioner if he knew moving the inmates without mental health clinicians' clearance violated so-called minimum standards.

Under the city charter, the board's minimum standards are law.

Ponte said inmates were moved in an attempt to quell violence on Rikers Island.

Compiled with

wire service reports