Qns. mom strangled son to death because he was crying: Officials

A Queens mom was arrested Monday on charges she strangled her 2-year-old son to death because he wouldn't stop crying.

Afriyie Gaspard, 29, allegedly choked her son Izayah Hall on Friday afternoon because he was kicking and screaming in their Fresh Meadows home, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. Once he stopped crying, Gaspard allegedly left him gasping in his bed for 45 minutes before calling 911.

The NYPD said it was notified by the medical examiner on Saturday that he found multiple head and neck injuries to the baby. Cops collared Gaspard early yesterday morning, and placed Gaspard's five other children into the custody of the Administration for Children's Services, the according to the agency, which said it was investigating the 2-year-old's death, but did not provide further details.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office said the cause and matter of death of Hall were still under investigation last night, and said the death had not yet been ruled a homicide, contrary to the police's assertion earlier in the day.

Gaspard's sister, Stephanie, told reporters she didn't believe her younger sister's alleged confession.

"She loved her children and would never do anything to hurt them," Stephanie Gaspard, 32, told The New York Times at her sister's apartment building.

Gaspard was awaiting arraignment last night. She faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter, the most serious of the charges she faces.