The Child Abuse Case That Shocked NYC

Stepfather Of Nixzmary Brown Faces Murder Trial; Girl's Death Spurred Child Welfare Reforms

(CBS/AP)  They were enduring symbols of an emaciated girl's horrific demise: The rope used to tether her to a chair. The cat-litter box she used as a toilet. The bathtub used to dunk her under cold water.

Two years after the fatal beating of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, the snapshots from her personal hell were expected to figure prominently in the upcoming murder trial of her stepfather.

Jury selection in the case - which shocked the city, hastened child welfare reforms and made the name "Nixzmary" synonymous with child abuse - was to continue on Tuesday in Brooklyn, with opening statements later in the week.

Authorities say evidence against Cesar Rodriguez includes crime-scene photos inside the family's three-bedroom apartment and a videotape of the defendant casting blame on the victim - a malnourished child who weighed 45 pounds at the time of her death.

"Sometimes she used to get me real angry and I used to just throw her," Rodriguez said during the post-arrest interview made public during a family court hearing.

Prosecutor Ama Dwimoh has called it a case of torture.

Nixzmary "was beaten repeatedly," Dwimoh said. "She was bound like an animal."

Rodriguez's defense attorney, Jeffrey Schwartz, has sought to shift blame to Nixzmary's mother, who faces a separate trial, for fostering an environment of abuse and to an overburdened bureaucracy - the city Administration for Children's Services - for doing too little to stop it. During jury selection, the lawyer has signaled he also plans to explore the dilemma of how best to discipline children.

"Would you agree with me that when it comes to parenting there is no absolute?" he asked prospective jurors. And: "Cesar Rodriguez is not being charged with being a bad parent. He's being charged with murder. Can you all agree to keep that distinction?"

The jury is comprised of 11 women and one man; nine have children.

Prosecutors likely saw women as more nurturing and protective of a child, while defense attorneys, who will be blaming Nixzmary's mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, said they wanted women because they can judge other women easier, reports the New York Daily News.

The case, coupled with a series of high-profile deaths of children known to child welfare workers, sparked a public outcry. City officials and lawmakers responded by bolstering the corps of caseworkers and drafting legislation to give life in prison without parole to parents who cause the death of a child under 14 through abuse.

Nixzmary's torment began making headlines shortly after Jan. 1, 2006, when her mother reported that she found the girl unconscious around 4 a.m. in a home where she was raising five other children, ages 6 months to 9 years. The child was dead at the scene; an autopsy found that she died from a vicious blow to the head.

There had been warning signs: School employees had reported in 2005 that she had been absent for weeks. Neighbors noticed unexplained injuries - including a swollen eye - and noted the child appeared under-fed and small for her age.

Child welfare workers had been alerted twice. But they claimed that after speaking to the stepfather, mother and child, there was no conclusive evidence of abuse.

Prosecutors allege that after the mother and Rodriguez were arrested, they found evidence Nixzmary had been confined to a ramshackle back room with the cat box. They also claim the stepfather incriminated himself by seeking to portray the victim as an unruly child who courted punishment by harassing her siblings and "always lying to me."

Rodriguez, 29, admitted on video that he restrained the girl "by putting duct tape on her hand and tying her to a chair."

On Nixzmary's final night, he said, she enraged him by stealing yogurt and trashing computer equipment. The punishment: holding her under cold water, just like his father had punished him. Investigators believe that in the process, he hit her head on a faucet - the death blow.

"She was giving me a hard time, so I pounded her on her back," the stepfather said in his version. Later, he added, "I laid her naked on the bed and told my wife to leave her alone for a while."

[CarissaS]

hopefully he goes rite to hell

[fr0andtee]

this scumbag actually has a defense attorney? please, the first responding officer should have unloaded their clips on this one

[SUNSHINE2940]

This poor baby! I hope they hang this sick man, or like someone else saids put him in general population and let the trash be taken out!!

[the600rrgirl]

I survived a childhood filled with sexual, physical and emotional abuse. I have had to work very hard at undoing that psychological damage. I have two children. They have been raised in a stable, loving, nurturing environment. My "rules" are fair and consequences consistent. I utilize the "time out" or "loss of priveledge" methods when necessary, but I rely most heavily on REWARDING THE DESIRED BEHAVIOR (such as when one sibling shares a toy with the other without my intervention) because I not only find it to be more effective, but I feel better about myself as a parent. This is the absolute antithesis of how I was raised, so I reject the assertion that we are what we learned. Yeah, if you''re a moron maybe.

I don''t give a s**t if Rodriguez was beaten every day of his LIFE by his father, there is nothing in this world that can excuse or justify his actions. Sorry, I realize this may sound primitive: that poor little girl''s life should cost that sick *** his. Someone needs to shoot him in the head and be done with it.

[the600rrgirl]

I survived a childhood filled with sexual, physical and emotional abuse. I have had to work very hard at undoing that psychological damage. I have two children. They have been raised in a stable, loving, nurturing environment. My "rules" are fair and consequences consistent. I utilize the "time out" or "loss of priveledge" methods when necessary, but I rely most heavily on REWARDING THE DESIRED BEHAVIOR (such as when one sibling shares a toy with the other without my intervention) because I not only find it to be more effective, but I feel better about myself as a parent. This is the absolute antithesis of how I was raised, so I reject the assertion that we are what we learned. Yeah, if you''re a moron maybe.

I don''t give a s**t if Rodriguez was beaten every day of his LIFE by his father, there is nothing in this world that can excuse or justify his actions. Sorry, I realize this may sound primitive: that poor little girl''s life should cost that sick *** his. Someone needs to shoot him in the head and be done with it.

[Krazcarl]

I reread the article I''m a 210 lb 6ft man give me 5 minutes with that piece of trash the piece of garbage tried justifing dunking the childs head in the sink as punishment claimed it happened to him well I was abused and know it''s wrong and the pain and would NEVER EVER inflict it on another so he is lieing he thought it was funney. This is a poster child for capital punishment if your anti death penalty read that article if you still are your mentaly challenaged or think on some level that life without parole is worse if you do you pay for it...

[Krazcarl]

Folks this is a story about a abused child happens everywhere not just NYC don''t show your ignorance by blaming CBS or NYC these were animals or crack addicts or both. GOD PLEASE HOLD HER REAL CLOSE SHE NEEDS PROTECTION,,,let''s all offer prayer fot this young lady and be human.

[nv4me]

only in NYC, Give me a break already!
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words:
www.poconocommunitynews.com

[denn034]

Rational people can differ over what''s worse in New York. A child bound and treated inhumanely or a man thinking he can rape his young daughter in public in full view of people, thankfully people intervened before the rape could occur. New Yorkers showed what they were capable of in the wake of 911 but, the fact that it faded so quickly afterwards speaks to how mean and self-absorbed people are there not to mention hypocritical. People like Donald Trump only make it worse.

[susieq_13]

I hope that Ceasar rots in hell the SOB...what a horrible and sickening story. This is just so heart breaking. What can a child possibly do wrong to deserve such torture? Absolutely nothing! That man and women is just plain sick trash. I hope they both rot in hell! Children are our future. God bless them and keep them as safe as possible..RIP little one.

[nmyhappyplc]

I firmly believe that God is holding this child in His hand.

As for the parents, I can''t think of a constructive reason not to use the death penalty on both of them.

[decarlo12-2009]

This is why it is so important for teachers to report any child abuse that they see within their schools. It may prevent some of this torture and murder. Saving the life of only one child, it would be worth it. What you see in your own neighborhood and reporting it is also an option for the general public. You have to get involved to do it though. So get involved.

[Krazcarl]

People should be shot and killed or hung or both I was a victum as a child and have no tolerence for it. GOD BLESS THIS CHILD HOLD HER CLOSE LET HER FEEL SAFETY.

[mswolfestock]

Maybe we had better pass a law against "bad parenting" if it will help to keep even one kid safe. And YES, as a matter of fact, when kids are horribly abused and starved THAT IS BAD PARENTING. DUH!!!! I''m just really scared about how many kids keep getting hurt without being killed outright. I say put both the stepfather and the defense attorney in any prison yard and let justice take its course. It would be so much cheaper than dragging this awful mess through a court room.

[hambonehd]

"Cesar Rodriguez is not being charged with being a bad parent. He''''s being charged with murder. Can you all agree to keep that distinction?"

Are you f*cking kidding me? Lawyers like this should be rounded up and shot in the head along with the scumbags they defend.


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Posted by matvei1107 at 03:03 PM : Jan 15, 2008


H E L L YEA!

[nags05]

this makes me want to throw up. how could any human being do such horrible things to another? and worse yet, how could any human being defend a person who would do such a thing to another. I am disgusted at our judicial system. we need to take these people and do the same thing to them that they have done to others!!!!!!!

[b-easy63]

If this is the case that shocks New Yorkers, then it is only because they have amnesia from the other horrific child abuse cases uncovered over the years. Really. Journalism has gone, down, down down. In a city known for child abuse, child rapes, and child torture--this is just one of many......A book to read "Somewhere a child is crying." Abuse and the horror of murder--is far too prevalent for such an understatement in this article.