15-Year-Old Cousin Arrested in Brooklyn Teen's Murder

The police arrested Tiana Browne, 15, in connection with the murder of her 16-year-old cousin. On Tuesday afternoon, Browne's aunt Marva Braithwaite returned to her home in Crown Heights to find her daughter Shannon stabbed to death.

Browne was found in her cousin's clothes and sneakers, apparently taken after she stabbed her 18 times. Browne also took Shannon's MP3 player, cell phone, and camera. The Daily News reports that "As a good Christian woman, Marva Braithwaite opened her home without hesitation" to Browne, described as a "troubled runaway." Braithwaite believes the suspect was jealous of her daughter but said, "I never knew [she was] planning on killing my daughter."

Browne was charged with murder as an adult. And Braithwaite said at a vigil last night, "When a child is messed up, the whole community is messed up. If a child has problems, you help that child."

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By Jen Chung in News on October 2, 2008 9:08 AM

Comments [rss]

whitecastlerock

@finerart-yes let's fan the flames of racism.

Spirit of 76

To be precise, she's the murdered girl's second cousin. Second cousins generally have no deep emotional connection. They only shared great-grandparents. That's part of why she found it so easy to kill the poor girl, who might as well have been a stranger.

finerart

I like how there's 6 comments for a 16 year old black girl who was stabbed to death and 50 comments for a white guy who killed himself.

las2381

let's also not forget that she slashed her throat as well.

las2381

the real question is if she is mentally stable? obviously something is wrong with her for her to kill someone else let alone her cousin. but when you brutally stab someone 18 times and have a history of being "a troubled youth", you have to first see if she needs psychiatric help. and if it is determined that she is mentally stable, then by all means try her as an adult. you know the difference between right and wrong way before you are 15 yrs old. she didn't steal something trivial, she killed someone.

jibbly

Why is she being tried as an adult? Don't get me wrong, I have very little sympathy for her, but she is still 15 years old and obviously didn't have much grasp on reality if she murdered her own cousin for a pair of shoes and electronic gizmos.

Offbalance

That's awful. It's a shame that such a good person had to die at the hands of a rotten one.

I'm glad they're going to try this miserable waste of life as an adult and I hope she never sees light of day again. These people took her in and tried to help her, and this is how she repays them?