Guilty Verdict In NYC Child Abuse Death

Stepfather Convicted Of Manslaughter In Violent Death Of 7-Year-Old Nixzmary Brown

(CBS/AP)  A jury convicted a man of manslaughter Tuesday in the death of his 7-year-old stepdaughter after a trial that detailed years of horrific abuse and cast a spotlight on the city's troubled child welfare agency.

Brooklyn jurors deliberated four days before finding Cesar Rodriguez guilty of lesser charges in the death of the tiny, malnourished girl who was severely punished after she was caught stealing yogurt. Prosecutors, who alleged the girl was the victim of years of abuse and neglect comparable to torture, had sought to convict Rodriguez of murder.

Rodriguez, 29, faces 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison, reports the New York Daily News.

Evidence in the nearly three-month-long trial in state Supreme Court included grim crime scene photos from the room where Nixzmary Brown was bound to a chair, starved and forced to urinate in a litter box. More than once, court officers passed out tissues so weeping jurors could dry their eyes.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Ama Dwimoh displayed a large photo of the victim's body - bruised, topless and splayed on a wooden floor in the family's ramshackle apartment - as she stood in front of the defense table and berated Rodriguez.

"You battered a little girl who weighed 36 pounds," she said last week. "When she was on the floor in that room you imprisoned her in, you turned your back."

Gazing up at the photo, she argued: "There is nothing that 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown could ever do to deserve that."

On Monday, jurors returned to the jury box four times, jumping from a re-reading of the most serious charge -- second-degree murder -- to the reading of a much lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, and just before lunch, a notch up to first-degree manslaughter, reports New York Newsday.

Despite the emotion surrounding the case, defense attorney Jeffrey Schwartz stuck to a bold strategy of casting Nixzmary's mother as the real killer, labeling her "Mommy Dearest."

He also portrayed the victim as a violent and uncontrollable "little Houdini" - a reference to her supposed knack at slipping out of the makeshift restraints devised by her parents to keep her from attacking her younger siblings.

Schwartz asked the jury of two men and 10 women to focus on the testimony of a jailhouse snitch, who claimed that behind bars the mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, described a fatal beating.

It was "the confession of the sick, of the demented, of the disturbed mother," he said.

Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to murder, manslaughter and other charges in connection with the girl's death on Jan. 11, 2006.

In a videotaped statement played for the jury, Rodriguez said that on Nixzmary's last night, he punished her by sticking her head under running bath water "to make her think." Investigators suspect the girl's head was smashed against the faucet - something her stepfather denied doing.

The stepfather admitted he had abused her but denied killing her, saying on tape, "Sometimes she'd get me real angry, and I used to just throw her on the floor. ... She was always lying to me about everything."

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

Schwartz contended that Rodriguez was a hard-working security guard and overwhelmed parent who was "guilty of child abuse." But he said the case was plagued by sloppy police work and a rush to judgment, and told jurors, "You have not seen evidence in this courtroom that has proven murder or manslaughter charges."

Schwartz also sought to blame the city's overburdened Administration for Children's Services for doing too little to stop it.

There had been warning signs for years before the little girl died. School employees had reported that she had been absent for weeks the previous year.

Neighbors noticed unexplained injuries and noted she appeared underfed and small for her age. Child welfare workers had been alerted twice but said they found no conclusive evidence of abuse.

The case, coupled with a series of other high-profile deaths of children known to child welfare workers, sparked public demands for reform.

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.

[aggiekat2004]

It took me 10 years to get the attention of Child Protective Services in Texas, and even then their hands were tied.

My sister-in-law manufactures and distributes meth, but that just makes her a "bad parent" in the eyes of the law. The system makes it impossible to prosecute parents who are endangering their children. She would have to be breaking the law, with the children present, and by the grace of God the CPS workers or police would have to miraculously appear and catch her doing it.

Now all three kids are in protective custody, and my 12-year-old niece was just caught propositioning a 28-year old man. If the agency were able to do something YEARS ago when I started making the calls, perhaps we wouldn''t be in this horrible situation today.

[aggiekat2004]

Oh yeah...she was caught doing coke, had meth in her possession, and asked the man for money in exchange for the "proposition."

My brother and his ex-wife ARE to blame, but we needed help and weren''t able to get anyone''s attention.

CPS would come out, but their acid-test is "is the child fed, clothed, and seem in good spirits." Nevermind that the child knows how to make meth and shoplift at age 8...as taught by Mommy Dearest. That''s apparently not an indicator of guilt by the parent or an indication that they''ll do something illegal in the future. Sad.

[tireslinger]

In cases such as this, historically we want to blame one person, one program...etc. Fingers should be pointed, if there is finger pointing to be done, in all directions...except the child''s. The father, mother, child welfare programs, lawsmakers...etc., are all culpable. How many more children have to suffer and die, before something/anything is put into place, to make these sorts of circumstances stop?

[knyghtwolf]

We do not need tougher laws, we need tougher PEOPLE in the legal system, in our communities, in our schools, anywhere this happens is ONE place too many.

[pure505]

shame on defense attorney Jeffrey Schwartz! Did he really have the nerve to call this 7 year old names because she was able to slip out of handcuffs, being that she was so malnourished?!? What a disgusting excuse for a "man of the law". Thank God this poor little darling did end up dying, otherwise she would''ve had to endure many more tortures at the hands of these cruel "parents". Now she''s with God where she belongs. What a shame. I hope the mom and step-dad are both sent to prison and sodomized repeatedly. They certainly deserve it.

Cheers to Benst1 for his/her comment. I agree completely. Those who hurt children don''t have very many friends behind bars.

[mswolfestock]

The real tragedy is that this poor little girl was born at all. Then it was compounded by the worthless welfare system. I''m sick ''n'' tired of flushing my taxes down the toilet. I pay my taxes and kids keep on getting abused - THAT is the real injustice. Poor little Nixmary is in a better place, in the arms of Jesus, and hopefully that rotten excuse of a "stepfather" will get what he deserves in the prison yard.

[rukindr]

There are people serving life in prison because they were caught with an ounce of marijuana 3 times in the wrong state and this guy gets manslaughter??? will he even serve 10 years?

[kennergirl]

Schwartz wants to blame everybody but his client on this poor child''s death. Even the child herself. That is disgusting. The article doesn''t say if Nixmary''s mother was also subjected to abuse from Rodriguez or if he was abusive to the other children. I hate to say it but some people single out one child from a group and are abusive with him/her. There was a case not far from me whereas the mother and father doted on the son and let the two daughters starve. One (the baby) ended up dying.

I can''t believe that if this child was so troublesome why didn''t they take her to a doctor. Perhaps the child could have been given medication if she had such a behavior problem as they claimed, anything would have been better than beating the child to death.

[susieq_13]

I can''t believe that is all the time this man gets. He should be in prison for life. Along with the case workers who ignored this poor poor child. Why didn''t anyone follow up when she quit attending school? What is up with our judicial system? It''s gone to H*E*L*L

[godseyesore-2009]

Jeez, what does it take to get murderers convicted properly these days?

[blondmadison]

"Neighbors noticed unexplained injuries and noted she appeared underfed and small for her age. Child welfare workers had been alerted twice but said they found no conclusive evidence of abuse."

I am so tired of professional educated adults using this excuse. Sick to death of it!

[peacedreamer-2009]

I hope the social workers who allowed the abuse to go on for years will also be convicted.

[bsincere-2009]

Experts expressed concern about a hired gun (married to government official in PA) for pedophiles, promoting reunification of families with incest, related to death of children and use of federal funds to undermine child protection.

Pennsylvania State Policeman wrote, retaliation against (mandated reporter of suspected child abuse) included criminal %u201C . . . violations (by state officials) of the PACrimes code. exist including fabrication of evidence, perjury & official oppression. He said This (what state did to Singer) is killing (policeman) Furthermore, he wrote that ... the Department of State used its influence to block interest in an investigation.%u201D High-level government officials wrote letters contrary to State%u2019s own evidence (PA Attorney General%u2019s Office (I understand same person also ignored pedophile ring, school personnel and policeman in uniform took children from school forced them to have *** with adults and animals and put gun in child%u2019s mouth),

http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/ocean/host.php?folder=63&page=334

[bsincere-2009]

Experts expressed concern about a hired gun (married to government official in PA) for pedophiles, promoting reunification of families with incest, related to death of children and use of federal funds to undermine child protection.

Pennsylvania State Policeman wrote, retaliation against (mandated reporter of suspected child abuse) included criminal %u201C . . . violations (by state officials) of the PACrimes code. exist including fabrication of evidence, perjury & official oppression. He said This (what state did to Singer) is killing (policeman) Furthermore, he wrote that ... the Department of State used its influence to block interest in an investigation.%u201D High-level government officials wrote letters contrary to State%u2019s own evidence (PA Attorney General%u2019s Office (I understand same person also ignored pedophile ring, school personnel and policeman in uniform took children from school forced them to have *** with adults and animals and put gun in child%u2019s mouth),

http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/ocean/host.php?folder=63&page=334

[bsincere-2009]

Experts expressed concern about a hired gun (married to government official in PA) for pedophiles, promoting reunification of families with incest, related to death of children and use of federal funds to undermine child protection.

Pennsylvania State Policeman wrote, retaliation against (mandated reporter of suspected child abuse) included criminal %u201C . . . violations (by state officials) of the PACrimes code. exist including fabrication of evidence, perjury & official oppression. He said This (what state did to Singer) is killing (policeman) Furthermore, he wrote that ... the Department of State used its influence to block interest in an investigation.%u201D High-level government officials wrote letters contrary to State%u2019s own evidence (PA Attorney General%u2019s Office (I understand same person also ignored pedophile ring, school personnel and policeman in uniform took children from school forced them to have *** with adults and animals and put gun in child%u2019s mouth),

http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/ocean/host.php?folder=63&page=334

[bsincere-2009]

Experts expressed concern about a hired gun (married to government official in PA) for pedophiles, promoting reunification of families with incest, related to death of children and use of federal funds to undermine child protection.

Pennsylvania State Policeman wrote, retaliation against (mandated reporter of suspected child abuse) included criminal %u201C . . . violations (by state officials) of the PACrimes code. exist including fabrication of evidence, perjury & official oppression. He said This (what state did to Singer) is killing (policeman) Furthermore, he wrote that ... the Department of State used its influence to block interest in an investigation.%u201D High-level government officials wrote letters contrary to State%u2019s own evidence (PA Attorney General%u2019s Office (I understand same person also ignored pedophile ring, school personnel and policeman in uniform took children from school forced them to have *** with adults and animals and put gun in child%u2019s mouth),

http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/ocean/host.php?folder=63&page=334

[closethippy1]

I can''''t believe that is all the time this man gets. He should be in prison for life. Along with the case workers who ignored this poor poor child. Why didn''''t anyone follow up when she quit attending school? What is up with our judicial system? It''''s gone to H*E*L*L
Posted by susieq_13 at 04:01 PM : Mar 18, 2008

I don''t think the problem here is the judicial system as much as it is the jurors. Nowadays if members of the jury themselves didn''t see you commit a murder then they''ll doubt you did it regardless of the circumstancial evidence.
This thing about "beyond reasonable doubt" has gotten out of hand and now we have people doubting everything unless they see it for themselves.
Well, heck, what do you expect in a country that has allowed someone like Bush to lie through his teeth about Iraq and get away with the killings of hundreds of thousands of people as if nothing happened?
All you have to do is make up a reason and you''ll get away with murder.

[theusa1st]

this is just disgusting...all of it...poor child.
the jurors are ignorant and deserve evil done to them...may his lawyer rot in hell with this piece of human trash and the childs mother...disgusting.

[ladyephesus1]

THE MAN IS JUST STRAIGHT SICK AND SO IS THE MOTHER.
ROT IN HELL!!

[graceesmom]

This person should be charged with Capital Murder. The child clearly needed help in the worse way. I can''t believe that he was only convicted of manslaughter. It''s like he would be into more trouble for killing an animal. I hope when he is locked up he gets a whole lot of what he deserves. There is no justification in killing a child. Her weight was 36 pounds at 8 years old. She was starving. My heart is broken. I will never forget about this little girl. She is now an Angel and as bad as it is, she is a whole lot better off than being where she was. Sad to say that but its true!!!

[libsrweak]

All you have to do is make up a reason and you''''ll get away with murder.

Posted by closethippy1 at 09:04 PM : Mar 18, 2008
+ report abuse

************

they are getting away with murder because the bleeding heart liberal masses (who whines the most) has this misguided way for fixing the ''problem''..

I am willing to discuss this with you as long as long as you dont act like a 4th grader

[apndrgn]

Here goes another addition to the greater than 1% of U. S. Americans incarcerated. Funds are allocated to ensure jail makers get their share to build the jails, inner city is ignored.
Its like going to one side of a basin and building a vacuum torture device with the money that the poorer family needs to maintain its sanity at the other side of the basin.
Apparently it is entertaining, otherwise why is it done like this? The vicious circle is such that the mob demands more jails, judges, lawyers, police, and the social workers get less and are unable to function.

[ranger1948]

What could this child possibly have done to be treated like this, especialy by someone who is suposed to love and protect her. I think the curts failed in not getting a murder conviction . I also wonder if the mother i going to be charged and tried.

[closethippy1]

they are getting away with murder because the bleeding heart liberal masses (who whines the most) has this misguided way for fixing the ''''problem''''..
Posted by libsrweak at 09:47 PM : Mar 18, 2008

So what is this "misguided way" you talk about, prey tell.
You mean like following the law and respect the balance of power between the three government branches?
Respect the Constitution?
Understand what the limits of Presidential powers are?
Cooperate with Congress whenever there''s an investigation?
There''s nothing "misguided" about trying to live in a true democracy and not one created by rightwing nuts like Bush and Cheney to their liking.

[klingon69]

Posted by closethippy1 at 09:04 PM : Mar 18, 2008
I knew someone would say it weas Bush''s fault.

[klingon69]

Posted by closethippy1 at 06:02 AM : Mar 19, 2008
First off; We do not, and never have lived in a democracy. We live in a republic. Secondly, this story has absolutely NOTHING to do with Bush, Cheney, Pelousy...etc. This is the story of a sad abused little girl and the scum who got out of true justice for her MURDER. This connecting Bush with everything you see is like a delusion. Admittedly Bush is probably the worse president ever, and a pretty worthless human being. However with that being said, this type of abuse has been going on for decades, centuries. It is not something that just cropped up in the last 7 1/2 years. And of course the authorities have always been less that they should be in investigating these kinds of cases. Blame should also be placed on the jury. They felt that the treatment, abuse and neglect this little girl endured was enough to warrant a manslaughter charge, but not murder. Either way, the little girl had died after suffering untold horrors at the hands of this creature(s), and the libs would whine, cry, wring their hankies and hold a candlelight vigil for him if he was to be executed.

[whatithink-2009]

jeff92706,

These people are Puerto Rican, nothing illegal about them.