Daniel Auster, the son of American writer Paul Auster, was arrested on Friday and charged with manslaughter. He is suspected of negligently causing the death of his ten-month-old daughter Ruby while intoxicated with a mixture of heroin and fentanyl.
The son of acclaimed American writer Paul Auster has been charged with involuntary manslaughter following the death of his 10-month-old daughter, New York City police said on Sunday. Daniel Auster, 44, was caring for his daughter Ruby at his home in Brooklyn on November 1 when the baby was found unconscious. She was taken to the hospital where she died.
The chief medical examiner’s office concluded the death was due to “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl and heroin,” police told AFP. “The incident has been ruled a homicide after consultation with prosecutors,” police added, adding that Daniel Auster was arrested and charged with manslaughter and manslaughter. According to local media in New York, he was arrested on Friday evening.
Cited in a 1996 murder case
Daniel Auster had a run-in with police back in 1996 when André “Angel” Melendez, a suspected drug dealer, was murdered. The writer’s son was not involved in the crime. He had pleaded guilty to possession of $3,000 stolen from Melendez and was sentenced to probation. Two other people had pleaded guilty to Melendez’s murder and confessed to dumping his body in the Hudson River.
Paul Auster is one of New York’s most renowned writers, notably the author of the New York Trilogy, Moon Palace and Leviathan. In his 2003 novel La nuit de l’oracle, the narrator is a writer whose son is a drug addict.