Murder of Nixzmary Brown

It was reported on the January 21 trial portion that "Brown weighed just 36 pounds when police found her beaten to death on the floor of her Brooklyn apartment, but her family's fridge was anything but empty." Jurors saw crime-scene photographs "of a well-stocked refrigerator full of milk, pancake mix, salami, tortillas, cream cheese, lettuce – and the yogurt that Nixzmary was punished for stealing the night she died."

After the trial, D.A. Dwimoh stated, "Today was a good day for children because this jury said that parents have a duty – it's not just what you do but what you don't do ... Nixzmary, being a 7-year-old child, was owed a duty by her mother to protect her and give her medical attention."

On January 13, 2008, a former ACS supervisor, Roger Moore, came forward to discuss with the New York Daily News the failure of the ACS and how opportunities were lost because of another child-murder involving a 16-month-old boy and other factors. Moore discussed that because of the issue of the drowning of the little boy in a bathtub, the issue of Brown wasn't even discussed. There were discussions of a lack of follow-up work not being done by caseworkers and supervisors in Brooklyn regarding the abuse in Brown's case. ACS Commissioner John Mattingly had also made comments. He had mentioned to the Daily News editorial board that there were various methods that could have been used, but weren't. He mentioned that the ACS could have brought pressure on Brown's family to reveal more about the girl's condition; that they could have paid more attention to reports from Brown's school staff and could have sought a warrant to enter into Brown's home, but none of these measures were used. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had entered into the discussion by asking in this Daily News article: "Why the caseworkers didn't push further, harder - that's what we are investigating today."

By March 2008, the ACS had launched a $1M recruitment drive for new child welfare caseworkers. It was reported that the agency was getting many applications, but retention of caseworkers was a great problem. It was further reported that in 2007, 17 percent of the city's caseworkers had quit. The pay for the position was reported as starting at $39,000. Videos and other illustrations of the difficulty of the position are being used in the recruitment process.

A number of suspicious child felonies had surfaced and were reported in the news media in 2008, including the murder of an 8-month-old named Elijah Rodriguez. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum has said that at least 28 children have died since 2004 "under suspicious circumstances".

Jury selection had begun during the week of January 6, 2008 and the defense objective was to focus on the ACS and the parents. The defense lawyer for Rodriguez was Jeffrey T. Schwartz, who had competed in 2006 to represent Darryl Littlejohn in the murder case of Imette St. Guillen.

New evidence was presented at the close of the trial on Wednesday, January 23. A gag order was issued by the court. Mention was made of Rodriguez's "petty criminal record". It was anticipated that this new "mystery" evidence would be revealed during Wednesday or later. However, for a second time, jurors were sent home on Thursday. It was reported that both sides in the court case refused to talk about developments. A 'gag' order was in place and the Daily News was attempting to lift the order. The next time that jurors would meet would be Monday, January 28, 2008.

The jury deliberated for 18 hours over a three-day period, then found Nixzaliz Santiago guilty of manslaughter; the same verdict that Rodriguez had received. She was acquitted of the more serious charge of second-degree murder. However, because she was previously convicted of four lesser crimes: assault for binding Brown with a bungee cord, blackening her eye, unlawful imprisonment and endangering her welfare, Santiago would face more time when sentenced on November 5, 2008. There was no reaction from Santiago when the verdict was read. The judge indicated that a protection order would prevent her from seeing her other children. If her sentences are applied consecutively, Santiago could face up to 43 years in prison.

Santiago was sentenced on November 12, 2008 to 43 years in prison. Justice Patricia DiMango made these harsh remarks to her: "You may not have delivered the fatal blow, but were it not for your failure to act, Nixzmary Brown would probably not have died from that blow," and "By your own statements, she gasped for air – moaning – and called for you twice until she died. You, Mrs. Santiago, ignored the desperate calls and left this little 7-year-old alone and you did nothing" and finally "You had a duty to act. You were the mother." Santiago's defense attorney Kathleen Mullin said she would appeal.

There was a City Council hearing on the ACS in September 2007, announced by then-Councilman Bill de Blasio, the chairman of the General Welfare Committee, which has jurisdiction over the ACS. De Blasio cited the death of 21-month-old Hailey Gonzalez after she was allegedly beaten by her mother's boyfriend and the death of a 2-month-old after the child was allegedly shaken by his mother in a homeless shelter. The Councilman said that ACS has made some progress but noted that children were still being lost.

On the night of January 10, 2006, Rodriguez beat Brown to death with both fists and his thick leather belt. Her mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, ignored Rodriguez as he slammed Brown's head into a bathtub and doused her with cold water. Both Santiago and Rodriguez were charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment. Rodriguez was convicted on verdict of first-degree manslaughter and other charges, and was sentenced 29 years in prison. Rodriguez and Santiago each accused the other of inflicting the final, fatal blow. Traces of Brown's DNA were found on Rodriguez's belt. The indictment also alleged that Rodriguez abused the little girl for months and smashed her head against a bathtub.

In March 2006 a City Panel - created by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in response to Brown's death - advocated multiple changes, some of which included better communication with school officials regarding absenteeism, a 24-hour hotline, instant-response teams and new training for police personnel regarding sensitivity to abused children. However, the key changes included:

"Nixzmary's Law" was proposed in January 2006 by New York State senator Joseph Bruno, shortly after the events. The law is designed to deter or prevent child abuse related crimes by charging parents connected to the crime of the death of their children with first degree murder, the maximum punishment for which in New York State would be 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

It had been revealed in a few news reports in January 2008 that a social worker for Brown's school at P.S. 256, Margarita Cotto, had become concerned with Brown's case and reported her findings to the ACS. She had pleaded with the child welfare workers to remove Brown from her parents, and tried, in vain, to enter Brown's apartment but was barred from entering by Rodriguez. On May 16 of 2005, a guidance counselor who had filed two abuse reports contacted the state child abuse hotline about Brown's bruises and also made note that Brown had been absent from school for 46 days. Later, an ACS caseworker visited Brown's home, but the caseworker couldn't verify the abuse charge and accepted Brown's mother's word that Brown would return to her school. The jury was shown a video depicting the family shopping on Monday, January 9, 2006 while Brown was left home. The shopping occurred at a Target store in Downtown Brooklyn, the Atlantic Center Mall. The specific toy items being purchased were Power Ranger action figures, Hot Wheels cars, Play-Doh, Bratz dolls, etc. Nowhere is Brown seen in the video, and the defense lawyer said the video didn't prove anything.

According to the inmate's verbal testimony, which she recorded in a set of composition books, the inmate indicated that Santiago "told me her child was a bad kid and her and her husband killed her." The inmate also said that Santiago despised her daughter and defended Rodriguez. According to the article, the inmate reading from a May 15, 2006 journal entry said that Santiago had said "that her husband was a good man and the child was evil". The inmate said that Santiago referred to Brown as 'diablo'. It was further noted in the article that the sexual charges against Rodriguez had been dropped before the trial and that the M.E. had indicated that there were no signs of sexual abuse.

Evidence of previous abuse inflicted on Brown came to light, and the news coverage of her murder case later drew public attention on New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS). ACS had received two complaints about Brown's family. The first, made in 2004, remained unsubstantiated. The second complaint was made on December 1, 2005 when Brown showed up at school with a black eye. Another story in January 2006 brought more details of the ACS involvement. Blame was eventually assigned to the ACS by the news media and six Children's Services employees were disciplined. There were also stories that investigators were "swamped" with cases and the Bloomberg administration noted that the ACS was responding by hiring 525 more workers.

A specialist for the ACS, Vanessa Rhoden, had reported that on December 1, 2005, she had witnessed early signs of abuse in Brown but was rebuffed by Rodriguez. Rodriguez had told Rhoden that he had taken Brown to the hospital, and then used foul language to address her and end the conversation. This revelation took defense lawyer Schwartz off-guard during the Tuesday, February 19 trial portion because he had called Rhoden to the stand to show the court and the jury that there was no cause for alarm at that time. It was after this meeting that it was reported that ACS tried further visits to Brown's family's apartment but was refused each time. Rhoden testified in court on Tuesday, February 19 that Rodriguez cursed her when she made inquiries concerning "lacerations, bruises and welts" on the girl. She further testified that Brown's mother attempted to show her a fetus kept in a jar in the family's apartment. Rhoden indicated that she was disturbed by this revelation and so recommended mental health counseling for Brown's mother. It was further indicated that Rhoden did not believe Brown was in an unsafe environment and so she didn't make any motion to have Brown or the other children removed from the family.

An emergency room doctor was called to the witness stand during the Thursday, February 21 trial portion and reported that he had witnessed no signs of abuse on Brown after a medical exam 7 weeks before Brown's death in which Rodriguez brought the little girl to the hospital. When prosecutor Linda Weinman had grilled him as to whether he made a report, and the doctor said 'no', the prosecutor indicated that his decision was a mistake, but the physician indicated that he didn't know at the time. The official hospital records from the November 29, 2005 visit say "No other bruises present."

In the February 26 trial portion, it was indicated that the constant Defense argument that Brown was killed because she caused Santiago to have a miscarriage was found groundless because Prosecutor Linda Weinman told jurors that Santiago had confided in a psychiatrist that she blamed Rodriguez because of a "beating". She revealed from the report that, in November, 2005, Rodriguez had choked and thrown her to the floor and, within hours, Santiago had miscarried. There was discussion as to whether the report was admissible in court. Schwartz contended that the report proved Santiago a liar, while Weinmam wanted the report kept confidential. It was explained that this was an obsession, the reason Santiago kept the fetal remains in a jar. Schwartz had said of Santiago that "she believed Nixzmary caused the miscarriage and I know that based on what my client has said to me and to the police from day one." Schwartz also maintains that it was Santiago who delivered the death blow to Brown.

Nixzmary Brown (July 18, 1998 – January 11, 2006) was a seven-year-old American abused child and murder victim from the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York City. Her death impacted the city's Administration for Children's Services and prompted reforms in the system.

New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser compared Nixzmary Brown to another young girl who was murdered several years prior in 1996, Justina Morales. In that murder case, both the mother, Denise Solero, and her boyfriend "decided the girl had to die because she resisted taking a bath."