FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Raymond Worrall
PHONE: (201) 795-6400 Ext. 6737
EMAIL: rworrall@hcpo.org
TWITTER: @HCPOProsecutor
WEB: hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org
DATE: July 26, 2018
JERSEY CITY MAN CHARGED IN DEATH OF 23-MONTH-OLD CHILD
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:
On Tuesday, July 17, 2018, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Jersey City Police Officers were dispatched to 115 Van Wagenen Avenue in Jersey City on a report of a child with life-threatening injuries. The child, later identified as 23-month-old Bryce Sparrow of Jersey City, was transported by Emergency Medical Services to the Jersey City Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at approximately 3:45 p.m.
On July 25, 2018, following the investigation, members of the Homicide Unit arrested Andrew Howard-French, age 28, of Jersey City, without incident at the Prosecutor’s Office. Howard-French has been charged with Murder in violation of N.J.S. 2C:11-3, a first-degree crime.
Howard-French, who has been identified as a babysitter of the victim, is scheduled to make his first appearance on these charges in Criminal Justice Reform Court in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City today at approximately 3:00 p.m.
The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office has declared the cause of death to be multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death to be homicide.
Prosecutor Suarez credited members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Homicide Unit for the investigation and arrest with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department.
The Prosecutor’s Homicide Unit is actively investigating this case with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/ . All information will be kept confidential.
The above charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).