Mother of slain Zymere Perkins weeps in court as she admits she beat the six-year-old with a belt

The mother of a six-year-old boy who was allegedly beaten to death by her then-boyfriend broke down in tears as she told jurors in Manhattan that she whipped her son with a belt for years in order to avoid bruising her hand.

Geraldine Perkins, 29, testified in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday in the trial of Rysheim Smith, her former lover who faces second-degree murder charges in the death of Zymere Perkins.

Authorities say Zymere was beaten to death with a broomstick and a shower rod before being hung on the back of a bathroom door and left to die in Smith’s squalid apartment in Harlem in September 2016.

The horrific incident followed months during which Smith, 45, is alleged to have repeatedly abused Zymere using his hands and a baseball bat while also starving the boy.

Rysheim Smith, 45

Geraldine Perkins (left), 29, testified in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday during the trial of her former boyfriend, Rysheim Smith (right), 45

Prosecutors say that Smith viciously beat Perkins' six-year-old son, Zymere, to death during a fit of rage in his Harlem apartment in September 2016

Prosecutors say that Smith viciously beat Perkins’ six-year-old son, Zymere, to death during a fit of rage in his Harlem apartment in September 2016

Last week, Assistant District Attorney Kerry O’Connell said Smith ‘picked up Zymere, held him by the arm and began to beat him with a stick like a piñata.’

‘Tellingly, he did not call out to his mother… because he knew his mother was not going to protect him,’ O’Connell said.

Smith became enraged with the youngster who was constantly wetting his makeshift bed and who also once defecated in the living room and then tried to hide his own feces.

O’Connell explained how Smith after beating the boy, ‘waterboarded him in the shower’ before dropping him onto the floor and beating him with a shower rod cutting his head.

Zymere lost consciousness and collapsed in the bathtub.

He is alleged to have finally hung him on the back of the bathroom door by his t-shirt after he lost consciousness.

O’Connell said this was likely ‘where he took his last breath’.

In her testimony on Monday, Perkins told jurors how she struggled to raise her young son as they moved from one homeless shelter to another.

Perkins is seen with her son, Zymere, in this 2014 photo. In court on Monday, she tearfully described how she beat her son with a belt in order to avoid pain in her hands

Perkins is seen with her son, Zymere, in this 2014 photo. In court on Monday, she tearfully described how she beat her son with a belt in order to avoid pain in her hands

At one point, she said she sold her body for cash just so she could buy food, according to the New York Daily News.

‘It was hard,’ Perkins said as tears welled up in her eyes.

‘I mean, I’m a single parent. I’m a new parent. I didn’t know how to raise him.

‘I didn’t know what I was doing.’

As part of a deal with prosecutors, Perkins pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection with Zymere’s death.

Perkins agreed to testify against Smith. In exchange for her cooperation, Perkins is expected to receive a prison sentence ranging from two to six years.

Having been arrested three years ago, she will already receive credit for time served.

Perkins testified on Monday that she resorted to prostitution in order to get money for food. She said she lied about being addicted to drugs so that she could gain entry into a shelter. She is seen above with Zymere in 2014

Perkins testified on Monday that she resorted to prostitution in order to get money for food. She said she lied about being addicted to drugs so that she could gain entry into a shelter. She is seen above with Zymere in 2014

Perkins testified in court on Monday that she abused her son when he was just three years old. At the time, they were living in a shelter for drug addicts.

‘I would yell at him or I would beat him with a belt,’ she said of Zymere.

‘He’d cry.’

Perkins testified that a counselor at the shelter witnessed her abuse her son. She was warned that further abuse would force the counselor to report her.

‘That was the last time until I met Rysheim,’ she said of the beating.

According to the New York Post, Perkins’ testimony on Monday in court was the first time she came face to face with Smith since they were arrested three years ago.

She told jurors that her grandmother kicked her out of her house.

‘My grandmother accused me of beating my son,’ she said.

She said she resorted to prostitution to make some cash in order to buy food.

Then she says she lied about being addicted to crack in order to gain entry into a shelter.

At the shelter, Perkins says she didn’t learn much from the mandatory parenting classes.

‘Maybe I didn’t pick up on the lessons they were giving me,’ she testified.

Authorities say Zymere was beaten to death with a broomstick and a shower rod before being hung on the back of a bathroom door and left to die in Smith’s squalid apartment in Harlem in September 2016

Authorities say Zymere was beaten to death with a broomstick and a shower rod before being hung on the back of a bathroom door and left to die in Smith’s squalid apartment in Harlem in September 2016

‘I didn’t cherish it. I didn’t hold onto those lessons they taught me.

‘Sometimes I wouldn’t be bothered with him, because I (didn’t) have the energy or because (I was) too tired.’

Perkins testified that she met Smith in May 2015. She recalled first running into him outside her old apartment building as she was walking up the stairs from the subway.

Perkins said Smith wooed her with flowers and gifts. They started dating less than six months after they first met.

‘It was wonderful,’ Perkins testified.

‘He was a father figure for my child. He played with him. He cut his hair most of the time.

‘He bought toys for him. He read the Bible to him.’

Eventually, Perkins and her son moved into Smith’s apartment in Harlem, which was infested with roaches.

It was later learned that Smith was squatting in the apartment illegally.

According to prosecutors, Smith began abusing Zymere. He would beat him and force him to take cold showers, it has been alleged.

Smith is also alleged to have forced Zymere to relieve himself in a bucket in the living room.

On the day that Zymere died, his mother, who is alleged to have watched on ‘passively’ as the abuse took place, is said to have waited several hours before checking on her son after the beating. 

When she finally did so, he was already dead.

Perkins carried his body from their 135th Street Harlem home to the hospital long after he could be saved.

Geraldine Perkins, and her boyfriend, Rysheim Smith, were arrested soon after the boy's death. Perkins has claimed that Smith dealt the deadly blows to the child that led to his death

Geraldine Perkins, and her boyfriend, Rysheim Smith, were arrested soon after the boy’s death. Perkins has claimed that Smith dealt the deadly blows to the child that led to his death

Smith, meanwhile, left the apartment to go and get food.

Graphic photos of Zymere’s badly beaten body were shown to jurors which detailed his injuries including cuts and bruises to his neck, head and ribs.

Last week, ER nurse Michael Nelson recalled how Perkins ran inside the hospital ‘screaming’ as she carried Zymere in her arms.

‘He was extremely cold. I felt the coldness of him through his clothes,’ he said. ‘This child was dead for a while. There was no bringing this child back.’

O’Connell went onto portray how unpleasant life had become for Zymere in his home where flies had laid eggs in feces that was embedded into the carpet and crawling with maggots. 

Zymere was allegedly ‘deprived of food as punishment’ and given just bread for dinner while his mother and her boyfriend feasted according to the prosecutor.

‘When he was caught eating from the garbage because he was so hungry, the defendant beat him mercilessly,’ O’Connell said. ‘He had broken ribs on broken ribs. This child had more fractures than he had ribs.’ 

Smith is pictured in court when was initially charged in 2016

Smith is pictured in court when was initially charged in 2016

The boy’s chest and belly were covered in scratches, scars, and bruises. 

Perkins is due to take the stand again on Tuesday. 

After Zymere’s death, three Administration for Child Services employees were fired from the troubled agency. Its commissioner, Gladys Carrion also resigned.

It was revealed that up to five welfare reports were filed on Zymere’s behalf but were ignored. An investigation into allegations of severe corporal punishment was also closed.  

The failings of the agency will also be revealed in court during the trial. ACS received a tip-off in 2015 that alleged Smith smacked Zymere 20 times at a picnic. 

The little boy also told ACS workers how his mother’s boyfriend hit him and punished him by forcing him to take cold showers.  

Smith’s defense attorney, Heather Smith, has said the death of Zymere is solely down to Perkins who she described as a ‘profoundly unreliable person who will say anything to avoid jail time.’ 

‘There is no reliable evidence that Rysheim’s actions caused Zymere’s death,’ she said. ‘Perkins is a known liar with every incentive to lie to save her own life.’

Smith faces up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder, manslaughter and other charges. 

At the time of the little boy’s death, city officials acknowledged that Perkins, was investigated five times for abuse allegations. 

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