February 2, 2008
Jurors Weep During Nixzmary Brown Murder Case
Photographs of a 7-year-old girl's battered body moved jurors in the Nixzmary Brown murder trial to tears yesterday. The prosecution showed crime scene photographs, featuring Nixzmary's dead body. The girl's stepfather Cesar Rodriguez is on trial for second-degree murder.
Newsday thought it sounded like someone exclaimed "Jesus!" after seeing the pictures; other jurors covered their mouths. And with good reason: One of the pictures "showed bruised and scratched buttocks of the child with a spot of what appeared to be fresh blood." An NYPD detective said the 7-year-old who weighed only 36 pounds "was extremely thin, you could see bones through the skin."
The previous day, a video of Rodrigeuz discussing Nixzmary's wounds to a Brooklyn ADA right after the girl was found dead was shown in court (but not the jury). After claiming that a mark above Nixzmary's eye as well as her two black eyes were self-inflicted, Rodriguez claimed responsibility for many others. From the Daily News:
The prosecutor showed a photo of Nixzmary's battered back.It's expected the video will be shown next week. Rodriguez's lawyer Jeffrey Schwartz managed to get sections where Rodriguez was asked about sexual abusing Nixzmary redacted, but was not successful in redacting parts asking him if the girl was fed cat food (the News heard him say, "There's calories in cat food," Schwartz said, quickly adding, "I'm not saying it's appropriate to feed it to a child.")"That's from me beating her with the belt," Rodriguez said, referring to marks on her buttocks.
He was less sure about some marks on her waist.
"Same thing - from the belt or my hands," he said. "Maybe pound her on her back."
"What about this mark on her ankle?" Weinman asked later.
"That was from the bungee cord," Rodriguez answered.
"That was from the bungee cord when you tied it around her leg so she couldn't leave the room?" Weinman said.
"Right," replied Rodriguez.
Schwartz has also claimed his client's statements were taken illegally and Rodriguez was trying to cover for his wife. The defense's argument is the fatal blow that killed Nixzmary was really from her mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, who will face murder charges in a separate trial.
Photograph of Nixzmary Brown's grave at the Cypress Hills Cemetery via Find a Grave
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These two disgusting human beings, if you can call them that, deserve to have every single thing they did to that poor child done to them tenfold. Hopefully they will be sent to a really good prison where they will last a week before they are found dead in their cells tied up with bungee cords, beaten until they are bleeding, then finished off with a metal can of catfood stuck in their throats. People like this really deserve the death penalty. Disgusting.
As horrific as this case may be, life in prison would be far worse for these people than the death penalty. The death penalty would get it over with quickly, whereas prison sentence would undoubtedly make their lives a lot harder. Besides, society only lowers itself to the level of murderers when it kills criminals.
guilty!
death by hanging.
Yeah, I agree with wiseguynyc, death for these two is too easy. It's a release for them. I hope they suffer as much and as badly as this little girl.
save darfur motherfuckers.
Yeah life in prison will be bad. Uh huh. Since they have done this to a child, they will be put in protective custody at a nice prison ward with individual cells, tv, computers, etc. How horrible that will be. And since its 2nd degree in about 7 years they will be out on parole. Boo hoo.