Police investigating murders of Brooklyn grandmother, grandson who were poisoned months apart

Police probe deaths of child, grandmother in Brooklyn

NEW YORK -- Police are probing two mysterious deaths in Brooklyn.

They say a 4-year-old boy and his grandmother were poisoned within a few months of each other.

As CBS2's Andrea Grymes reports, both the woman and her young grandson died in 2021, three months apart, but police say the cases have just now been ruled homicides.

Police sources say the grandmother had been staying with the boy and his mother at their home on 65th Street in Bensonhurst.

Last February, investigators say the grandma, 63-year-old Tofoon Man, died following complaints of stomach pains while inside the apartment.

A few months later, last May, police say paramedics rushed her 4-year-old grandson, Wilhelm Ducatl, to the hospital after he, too, complained of stomach pains. He died a couple days later.

Police say the medical examiner preliminarily determined the child may have been poisoned. Investigators then looked further into his grandmother's case, exhuming her body and running toxicology tests.

Police say on Wednesday, the medical examiner officially ruled both were poisoned and murdered.

A motive remains unclear.

Police sources say they're looking to question little Wilhelm's parents about the deaths and a possible connection to a custody dispute.

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