4-year-old Jerusalem boy critically hurt; police suspect relative choked him

A 4-year-old boy from Jerusalem was hospitalized in critical condition Saturday, with police arresting a family member on suspicion of choking him.

Police were treating the case as a suspected murder.

The boy, a resident of Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood, was rushed to the city’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center after suspected choke marks were found on his neck. Paramedics were trying to resuscitate him.

Police said officers sent to Ramot to investigate the incident arrested one of the boy’s relatives, who is in his 20s.

Citing an initial probe, police said the boy did not respond this morning to the calls of family members. After the father was called home from synagogue, the family noticed the suspect’s door was locked and broke into his room, where they found the boy lying on the floor, according to police.

The suspect was then arrested by officers called to the scene.

According to reports, the suspect suffers from mental illness.

“The investigation is ongoing,” a police statement said.