The son of famed novelist Paul Auster has been charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the drug-overdose death of his 10-month-old daughter, New York media reported Saturday.

Daniel Auster, 44, had been caring for his daughter Ruby on November 1 in his Brooklyn home when the baby was found unconscious. 

She was rushed to hospital, where she died. 

Medical examinations found the baby died from "acute intoxication" with fentanyl and heroin, The New York Times reported Saturday citing police sources.

"Mr Auster was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after conferral with the district attorney's office," according to The Times. 

Other New York media said he had been arrested on Friday evening.

Daniel Auster's previous tangle with law enforcement was in 1996 when Andre "Angel" Melendez, an alleged drug dealer, was murdered -- though the younger Auster was not implicated in that crime.

He pled guilty to possessing $3,000 that had been stolen from Melendez, and was sentenced to probation.

Two others -- Michael Alig and his roommate Robert Riggs -- pled guilty to Melendez's murder and to dumping his body in the Hudson River. 

Daniel's father, Paul Auster, is one of New York's best-known writers, and has been celebrated for notable works such as "The New York Trilogy," "Moon Palace" and "Leviathan."

In his 2003 novel "Oracle Night," the narrator is a writer whose son is a drug addict.