Harlem residents are asking questions after the broomstick-beating death of a 6-year-old boy. Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday the state will investigate. NY1's Rocco Vertuccio filed the following report.

Parents in Harlem were finding it hard to explain to their own children the tragic death of 6-year-old Zymere Perkins.

"It's unexplainable," said one parent.

Many expressed their grief by leaving balloons and candles outside the boy's apartment with heartbreaking messages like "Sorry we couldn't save you."

Calvin Hunt's 9-year-old son went to school with Zymere.

"He says, 'Why did they beat him like that?'" Hunt said. "What kind of answer can you give somebody?"

Zymere's mother, 26-year-old Geraldine Perkins, told police she found her son unconscious in their apartment on 135th Street Monday. When she took him to the hospital, investigators found bruises on the boy's torso, and bruises and finger marks on his neck. His ribs were fractured. The boy had other injuries on his head and body . 

"It's heartbreaking, you know. It really is. Especially such a young kid," said Kevin Flores, who works in the neighborhood.

Investigators say Perkins told them her boyfriend, 42-year-old Rysheim Smith, beat her son with a broomstick after he defecated in the living room. She says he then hung the boy by his shirt on a hook on the bathroom door. Both have been arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child .

"It's a sad feeling because a lot of times, we don't realize life is short. He didn't deserve to go like that," said Harold Reddick, whose uncle lives in the neighborhood.

Perkins told investigators Smith beat the boy several times in the past. She even admitted to hitting the boy once with a broom.

Investigators say the apartment was infested with cockroaches and had no electricity.  

The mayor admitted the family had been on the city's radar, and several agencies, including the Administration for Children's Services, had investigated the family before, but the case fell through the cracks.

"How could you let this slip through the system to where this boy is now dead?" Hunt said.

ACS says it is investigating the case, and the city's Department of Investigation trying to find out if ACS dropped the ball. Meanwhile, so many people here upset with how the city handled the case they plan a protest next week.