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NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man was convicted in the 2021
beating death of his partner's 10-year-old son, Manhattan
prosecutors announced Thursday.
Ryan Cato was found guilty of murder in the second degree by a
jury that had been deliberating for about a day, Manhattan
District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said. His trial in a
Manhattan court had started in late January.
Bragg said Cato “tortured” Ayden Wolfe for months before beating
him to death in a Harlem apartment.
“The evidence shown to the jury proved the utterly depraved
nature of Ayden’s murder, including extensive internal and
external injuries that no one, let alone a child, should
suffer,” he said in a statement.
Jessica Horani, Cato’s public defender, said her client is
disappointed in the verdict and will appeal.
“The death of Ayden Wolfe is a tragedy, but a depraved
indifference murder conviction for Mr. Cato is not justice,” she
said in a statement.
Wolfe was found lying unconscious and unresponsive in the living
room on March 6, 2021, after police said Cato called 911. The
boy later died at Harlem Hospital.
At the time, police determined Wolfe died of “fatal child abuse
syndrome" and said his body had been covered with bruises both
old and recent.
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