A baby boy just weeks shy of his first birthday died yesterday at a Queens child-care home after falling into a mop bucket filled with water, sources said.
James Farrior was in the living room of caretaker Kristal Khan’s home in Ozone Park with her two children, ages 3 and 4, at about 11 a.m. when the sitter went into another room, sources said.
When she returned, she found James head-first in the bucket, which was three-quarters full.
“He was totally lifeless,” said neighbor Liz Rivero, 31 , who saw rescuers carrying James from the house. “I saw the fireman run with the baby in his hands. “I started to cry because I have kids. It’s hard to see.”
The baby was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
An autopsy is expected to be completed today.
Khan, a teacher in Trinidad and Tobago who moved to New York recently, was arrested last night and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Neighbors said the tragic baby had just recently started coming to Khan’s home, which has a sign in the window saying, “Child care all day, every day.”
Cops said the center appeared to be unlicensed.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona