NYC Mom Convicted In Abused Girl's Death

(CBS/AP)  A woman was convicted of manslaughter Friday in the death of her tiny, malnourished 7-year-old daughter, who suffered abuse that shocked New Yorkers and hastened reforms in New York's child welfare agency.

Brooklyn jurors deliberated three days before convicting Nixzaliz Santiago in the January 2006 death of Nixzmary Brown, who was severely punished after she was caught stealing yogurt.

Santiago - like her husband - was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter. Cesar Rodriguez, who delivered the fatal blow, was convicted in March and is serving 29 years in prison.

The trial had raised questions of whether mothers should be held to a higher standard than fathers. Prosecutors argued that the mother had failed to protect her child in shocking fashion, and should be thoroughly punished.

"Today is a good day for the children because this jury said loud and clearly that parents have a duty," prosecutor Ama Dwimoh said. "It's not just what you do - it's what you don't do."

Evidence included grim crime-scene photos from the room where Nixzmary was bound to a chair, starved and forced to urinate in a litter box. Nixzmary was so malnourished when she died that she weighed only 36 pounds - about half the weight of an average girl that age.

Santiago could face up to 33 years in prison - more than her husband - when she is sentenced on Nov. 5. An appeal is planned.

During the trial's closing arguments, Mullin practically screamed at the jury yelling, pacing, coming to within a foot of the them as she claimed her client was innocent, reports CBS station WCBS-TV. Instead, she blamed Nixzmary's death squarely on Rodriguez, the girl's stepfather who had already been found guilty in an earlier trial for manslaughter.

"He took her from that bathroom; and he beat her in that back bedroom, away from Mrs. Santiago. She never knew, or never understood what happened to her daughter," Mullin said.

But prosecutors painted a different picture, billing Santiago as a mother who provoked her husband to abuse her 7-year-old daughter and did nothing to help as the battered, naked girl lay dying on their apartment floor.

"If the mother doesn't protect their child, who does?" countered Dwimoh. "This is a woman who is obsessed with her man, who chooses her man over her daughter."

There had long been warning signs of problems. School employees had reported that she had been absent for weeks the previous year. Neighbors noticed unexplained injuries and noted that the child appeared underfed. Child welfare workers had been alerted twice but said they found no conclusive evidence of abuse.

[mumu11]

While the neglect and abuse were criminal and should be punished severely, putting a higher responsibility on a mother than on a father is either equivalent to give her more right on the child than the father. (I think all would agree -especially the fathers trying to get custody of their kids- that this would not be justified at all), or to say that mothers have all responsibility but no right: ie they''re slaves, and that''s against the constitution unless I''m mistaken.

[toolmangler-2009]

I''''M NOT DEFENDING THE SOCIAL WORKERS BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THEIR CASELOADS? WE NEED THE GOVERNMENT TO PLACE OUR MOST VULNERABLE FIRST.HIRE MORE PEOPLE TO FIGHT CHILD ABUSE.THEN AS AMERICANS WE NEED TO SUPPORT THE FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION PROGRAMS FOR THESE POOR KIDS !! WE ALSO NEED TO VOTE FOR POLITICIANS WHO HAVE A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF FIGHTING THIS HORRIBLE CRIMES ! PLACE JUDGES IN AUTHORITY BY THEIR PROVEN RECORDS ... NOT POLITICAL BULL*HIT! WHAT HAVE WE DONE AS A SOCIETY ?? AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE AS AN INDIVIDUAL ?? IF YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING BUT *ITCH AND CALL SOCIAL WORKERS NAMES THAN YOU HAVE NOT BEEN A HELP EITHER ! IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO RAISE A CHILD .
Posted by nurse70 at 10:31 PM : Oct 18, 2008


Well said and true.
States like Nebraska make the situation worse by passing poorly thought out laws and statutes. Don''t misunderstand me, I am not dumping on these States, merely asking them to restructure the laws they have passed that give free reign to wanton attitudes and actions. ("There aint no such thing as a free lunch" TANSTAAFL)

[nurse70-2009]

I''M NOT DEFENDING THE SOCIAL WORKERS BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THEIR CASELOADS? WE NEED THE GOVERNMENT TO PLACE OUR MOST VULNERABLE FIRST.HIRE MORE PEOPLE TO FIGHT CHILD ABUSE.THEN AS AMERICANS WE NEED TO SUPPORT THE FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION PROGRAMS FOR THESE POOR KIDS !! WE ALSO NEED TO VOTE FOR POLITICIANS WHO HAVE A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF FIGHTING THIS HORRIBLE CRIMES ! PLACE JUDGES IN AUTHORITY BY THEIR PROVEN RECORDS ... NOT POLITICAL BULL*HIT! WHAT HAVE WE DONE AS A SOCIETY ?? AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE AS AN INDIVIDUAL ?? IF YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING BUT *ITCH AND CALL SOCIAL WORKERS NAMES THAN YOU HAVE NOT BEEN A HELP EITHER ! IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO RAISE A CHILD .

[Netterz]

So many more people to blame here, why arent the so called ''Social Workers" charged with any crime, like failure to protect, since it is there friggin JOB. The entire system that surrounds all children, such as people as innocent as her neighbors that DID report the abuse long before she was murdered, did more for this little one than Gov''t appointed SOCIAL WORKERS! They had the power to remove this girl from the home and charge the parents accordingly, then find the girl a loving home. Had a neighbor who was concerned enough to report it done anything more than make thoe calls, would have been charged with a crime, for either taking the child to a hospital or something, where some one obviously more competant that these people who just sit back and suck up there fat gov''t paychecks while children are abused for yr and eventually murdered. Yep, lets get more liberals in office to create more Gov''t jobs, so we have a bunch more fat cats on payrolls where they get paid huge $ for doing nothing, and more children die.

[luvcomments]

"The journey for justice for Nixzmary Brown is almost over," said ***''t. Dist. Atty Ama Dwimoh, who prosecuted both of Nixzmary''s parents. "Today is a good day for the children...."

Am I missing something here? Was this prosecutor smoking something? The kid was murdered, for heaven''s sake. This is justice? Smells like somebody''s done some fancy footwork - again. They should both be hung - soon.

[pure505]

ideally, Ms. Brown will be raped, sodomized and beaten by the prison guards and/or other inmates for all 29 years...and then she''ll take her own life. That would be better than what she deserves, but I can live with it, I suppose. Anyone who, for any reason, abuses a child should get immediate death upon conviction. How could you let your own daughter starve and be tied to a chair?? I can only imagine all the other little details that we won''t ever know about (thank God). Poor little thing. Shame on her teachers and especially these "social workers", if that''s what they call themselves. Social work is no place for apathy and laziness...you''re supposed to be defending the most precious little victims who cannot stand up for themselves! Heartbreaking.

[vh588083]

May they die real soon

[tastykakeman]

Dear mrcrosby12,

Puerto Rico is an American commonwealth. Sort of like Pennsylvania. Thus, it''s citizens are American citizens from birth. They also speak Spanish and are hispanic.

What I''m really trying to say is that you''re an idiot, and you should think before you speak. Or at least know your own country you unpatriotic liberal pig.

[gramto8]

Oh, I guess you have no eyes. Since 95% of hispanics are illegally here, it is a very safe assumption that she is illegal. Since the 5% that are ''''legal'''' got that way thru the Clinton granting them the legal status (which most true Americans do not recognize), she is in fact ILLEGAL

Posted by mrcrosby12 at 08:58 AM : Oct 18, 2008

You wouldn''t have just a slight problem with using hyperbole, would you? I would imagine that some of the ''Hispanics'' have been in this country longer than your family has.

[cricketmk3]

I don''t understand why the husband was acquitted of murder and charged with manslaughter if he dealt the fatal blow. He should be on death row. The "mother" is a disgrace...looks like she was nourished well enough. I''d be willing to bet the husband carried a few extra pounds also. The child welfare workers are a joke. It is their JOB to recognize these kinds of things and they did nothing...unbelievable!!