Born addicted to cocaine and heroin, he was cared for in foster homes for the first year of his life as he recovered from the drugs. Friends hoped his fortunes would change for the better after his father won custody in July.
Instead, Jeremy is dead - beaten so brutally his skull was split. And charged with murder is his father, Darren Celentano of Paterson, described by authorities as a hardworking, steadfast man who apparently exploded in rage under the pressures of parenthood.
Meanwhile, the boy's death has prompted yet another internal review at the state Division of Youth and Family Services, which had been monitoring him. A DYFS official contended Friday that his agency had argued against the boy being turned over to his father.
Celentano, 28, of Grand Street, is under suicide watch at St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic, Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano said Friday. He was arrested late Thursday, and Avigliano said Celentano gave authorities a confession on videotape.
Jeremy, suffering from several physical ailments, would not stop crying on Monday, police said Celentano told them. The father lost his temper, police said, and allegedly pounded the boy with closed fists until he stopped breathing.
Jeremy suffered a fracture across the top of the skull, and a smaller one in the back of his head. He also had bruises and cuts on his face and head, including a black eye, according to the prosecutor.
Instead of dialing 911, Celentano initially called his mother, who had routinely helped him care for the boy, and told her what he had done, Avigliano said. Celentano then brought Jeremy's lifeless body to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, the prosecutor continued, and the staff there called authorities on Tuesday morning. Avigliano declined to say how long the boy had been dead before he was brought to the hospital, or what the circumstances were surrounding his arrival at St. Joseph's.
Celentano was remorseful, Avigliano said, and his distraught behavior during and after his statement prompted authorities to make sure he was placed at St. Mary's for observation.
Little is known about Jeremy's mother, whose name has not been released. Authorities said she was a drug addict, and because of her severe addiction Jeremy had been turned over for state care at birth. But Darren Celentano petitioned the family court for custody several months ago.
He won his case on July 26 when a state judge in Paterson turned the boy over to him. Those court records remained sealed on Friday. Leah Bourne, the attorney who represented Jeremy's mother in family court, declined to comment Friday, saying only, "I'm sorry. We can't help you."
Darren Celentano could be arraigned on a charge of murder as early as Monday, authorities said. If found guilty, he would face 30 years to life in prison. Celentano has had no past run-ins with the law, according to state criminal records.
Because the boy had been under DYFS care, Andy Williams, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, said the child welfare agency will do its own review of his death.
DYFS records show, Williams said, that the state did not want Jeremy turned over to his father, but it lost that bid in court. Williams said the agency "didn't feel he was ready" to care for Jeremy, who had been in foster homes for medically fragile children.
He said DYFS asked that the father undergo a psychiatric evaluation, but that the court felt otherwise, given Celentano's upstanding background.
Celentano was receiving a monthly stipend to care for Jeremy as well as some in-home care services. Since the summer, DYFS workers said, they had visited once a month and reported nothing irregular. Sept. 12 was the last in-home visit. Jeremy died before an October visit was scheduled.
DYFS came under fire in January 2003 when the body of 7-year-old Faheem Williams, whose family was under the agency's supervision, was discovered in Newark. A state report later found that nearly a year before his body was found in a basement, a DYFS caseworker and her supervisor closed his case without making contact with him. The caseworker had more than 100 children under her care.
The Williams case accelerated an overhaul of child welfare, including the state's pledge to lower caseloads by hiring more workers, improving training and revamping the way cases are managed and closed. But just this week in a report, advocates said more work needs to be done.
Neighbors and friends described Celentano as a quiet, considerate man who worked long hours. At one point, he told them he was working two jobs, but did not talk about his work, the neighbors said.
Jeremy's mother would show up at the Grand Street apartment building where she used to live with Celentano. Just Saturday, she stopped by the Laundromat next door to leave two plastic bags full of shoes, jeans and other items, said Gregorio Sanchez, a Laundromat employee and friend of Celentano's. Neighbors did not know her name.
Celentano's landlady, who asked that her name not be published, described an ideal tenant who seldom made noise, paid his rent punctually and kept a tidy living space.
"He was so upset when he came down to the Laundromat to talk to me that night," his landlady said. "He said, 'My baby died today and I just can't cry anymore.' He seemed very depressed."
She said news that Celentano had been charged with the boy's death was hard to fathom. To those who knew him, Celentano seemed to relish fatherhood: Often he took his son for rides in his red Ford Explorer or played with him outside the apartment building, neighbors said.
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