Son 20 Month-old was killed in Midtown restaurant: police and witnesses

 

 A “soulless” mother shockingly killed her 20-month-old son in the bathroom of a Midtown burger joint Monday — and prevented restaurant workers from rescuing the doomed boy, police and witnesses said.

Then she “blamed the devil,” a police source said.

The 35-year-old Lower East Side mom, identified as Latisha Fisher, took little Gavriel Ortiz-Fisher inside a restroom at 5 Boro Burger on Sixth Ave. at 36th St. around 2:25 p.m., cops said.

 

She later “blamed the devil for what she did,” the cop source said.

As the tragedy started to unfold, a woman walked into the bathroom and saw the mother holding her hand on the boy’s mouth, but Fisher told her: “I put my hand over his mouth to put him to sleep,” according to a police source.

At some point, the mother locked herself in the bathroom. Customers and employees eventually became worried when the line to the toilets grew long.

When workers forced their way inside, the child was unconscious and foaming at the mouth, according to the sources.

They said Fisher tried to swat away attempts by the restaurant staff to perform CPR on the limp toddler.

“I would describe her as soulless,” a law enforcement official said when asked if the mom seemed distraught. “She put her hand over his mouth and smothered him.”

Another sickened police source said: “She is a lunatic. She is crazy.”

Gavriel was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he died, cops said. The mother was taken into custody at the scene. Charges against her were pending early Tuesday.

“It’s hard, it’s really unbelievable. I know my daughter loves her son,” said the boy’s maternal grandmother, Merial Fisher, 54, as the fought back tears. “I don’t know what happened. It’s just so sad.”

Of Gavriel, she said: “He was such a happy baby.”

She said Fisher has another son, who is 12, from a different dad. She added she doesn’t know where that boy is living.

“Right now the family is in mourning,” said Miriam Lozada, whose son Luis Ortiz is little Gavriel’s father.

“I’m going to miss my sweetheart, miss my boy, I’m going to miss him so much,” the tot’s grandma said through sobs.

 

She said Fisher appeared like a normal mom, adding: “There were never any signs.”

Fisher’s Facebook page, where she goes by the name Lola Honey, is filled with photos of her baby and family. Her extensive postings included an increasing number of inspirational messages, words of gratitude and hints at moodiness in recent days.

“How did everything change on me. I went to sleep feeling well,” she wrote four days ago.

“Be gentle with yourself, you’re doing the best you can,” said a March 22 post.

Neighbors at Fisher’s Pitt St. apartment building described her as tumultuous with a violent streak. One said loud music and the smell of weed would emanate from her flat.

A few recalled an older child has been taken from Fisher and said she knifed a family member a number of years ago.

“I think she just went cuckoo on whoever was up there,” neighbor Carolyn Lawson, 47, said of the stabbing. “She needs help. It doesn’t make sense. I think she was on medication for whatever problem she had, but I’m assuming she wasn’t taking her meds.”

The city’s Administration for Children's Services would not say if the agency was involved with the family and didn’t comment on the possible removal of another kid.

Neighbors said Fisher lived with Gavriel’s father and was seen doting on her child in the building.

“That’s so sad,” said a woman who declined to give her name. “How could you hurt your baby?”

Some of Fisher’s neighbors burst into tears when they heard the tragic news.

“He was a beautiful baby. He was very happy. Oh, my God,” one woman said. “I just brought him a stuffed animal the other day. A little bunny with some chocolate, for Easter.”