In Harlem, a sadistic jerk could spend the rest of his life in prison for bludgeoning his girlfriend’s defenseless 10-year-old son to death.
Ryan Cato, 38, was given a 25-year-to-life sentence on Friday for the murder of Ayden Wolfe, who was trapped in his family’s apartment during the early stages of the pandemic and endured unspeakable abuse.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that 10-year-old Ayden Wolfe was suffering from horrifying violence at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend while being cut off from educators and other responsible adults due to the pandemic.
“After viciously abusing him, Ryan Cato killed Ayden in his own apartment.”
In March, a Manhattan jury convicted Cato of second-degree murder, nearly four years after first responders discovered an unresponsive Wolfe, bruised and naked, in a West 131st Street apartment.
Prosecutors claim Cato moved into his girlfriend Aquisha Johnson’s Harlem home in January 2021 and immediately began abusing Wolfe.
The vicious Cato forced Wolfe to hold weights over his head while punching him repeatedly — and then filmed the abuse and sent it to his friends, according to prosecutors.
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The abuse appears to have escalated on March 5, 2021, when loud bangs were heard inside the apartment and Cato threatened Johnson when she yelled at him to stop, according to officials.
The bangs and thuds continued the following day, according to prosecutors. Johnson called 911 several hours after the incident, only to have Cato take her phone away.
According to prosecutors, first responders found Wolfe naked and without a pulse. They rushed him to Harlem Hospital, where doctors tried unsuccessfully to save his life.
Medical examiners determined that Wolfe died as a result of battered child syndrome.
Wolfe suffered bruises all over his body, broken ribs, and a slew of internal injuries, including a lacerated liver, kidney, and renal vein, which caused hemorrhaging.
“Some injuries were old, but others were recent,” said then-NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison, shortly after Wolfe died.
Johnson, who had already been investigated by the Administration for Children’s Services, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, according to officials.
According to officials, she has the option of withdrawing her manslaughter plea as part of a cooperative agreement.
Cato was also investigated by ACS for an unrelated incident in which he allegedly beat another woman in front of their children, according to police.
Wolfe’s father delivered a heartbreaking victim impact statement that prosecutors read in court during Cato’s sentencing.
He described young Ayden as a moral child who had a significant impact on everyone around him. Ayden once had a future, which he no longer has, he said.
