Paul Auster. /
The 10-month-old girl had heroin and fentanyl in her system
New York police have arrested the son of writer Paul Auster in the death of his 10-month-old daughter. The autopsy has revealed that the baby, granddaughter of the Prince of Asturias Award, had heroin and fentanyl in her body, which caused her death by overdose, when she was in the care of Daniel Auster, the eldest son of the author of ‘New York Trilogy ‘, ‘Journeys through the scriptorium’ or ‘Leviathan’. Daniel Auster has been accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of involuntary manslaughter and criminal negligence.
The death of the little girl, named Ruby, happened in November, in Brooklyn, and until this Saturday no charges had been filed against the 44-year-old father, whom the novelist has always kept out of the spotlight, due to his problems with drug addiction. Daniel Auster had called authorities when his daughter was knocked unconscious at the Park Slope home. The police took her to the hospital, where they declared her death from “acute intoxication”. It has not transpired how the drugs entered the baby’s body, US media report.
Daniel Auster has a criminal record, for robbery and for having been involved in the murder in the late nineties.
Both Auster and his partner, Siri Hustvedt, Daniel’s stepmother, have fictionalized the relationship with a drug addict relative.