Top Stories

BROOKLYN (AP) ― The outside world knew Nixzmary Brown was a little girl in peril.

Her school saw the warning signs. So did neighbors. Even child welfare workers had been alerted -- twice.

But somehow no one could save the tiny 7-year-old from a fatal beating in a second-floor Brooklyn apartment where she had been tethered to a chair with twine. Her death -- the fourth homicide in recent months in families monitored by the city's Administration for Children's Services -- renewed concerns about the agency's ability to protect abused children.

As details of Nixzmary's torment emerged, beleaguered child welfare officials admitted the system had failed her, and they launched an immediate review of thousands of cases citywide to be sure no other children were in danger.

ACS Commissioner John Mattingly said at a news conference that in recent weeks Nixzmary's family was uncooperative, ignoring repeated phone calls from caseworkers and turning them away at the door. He said the agency should have obtained a court order to enter the home.

"We were in a position to have kept this from happening, and that did not happen," Mattingly said.

The girl's stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, accused of binding, beating and molesting her, was arraigned on Thursday on charges of second-degree murder, sex abuse and child endangerment. Her mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, was arraigned on second-degree manslaughter and child endangerment charges. Both were held without bail. Telephone calls to their defense attorneys were not immediately returned.

The girl was "tortured," prosecutor Ama Dwimoh told reporters outside court.

"She was beaten repeatedly," Dwimoh said. "She was bound like an animal."

The abuse death follows that of three other children known to the agency: a 7-year-old who died in October after her father allegedly kneed her in the stomach and beat her with a belt over two days; a 16-month-old who drowned in November in a bathtub while his mother listened to CDs in another room; and a 1-year-old allegedly beaten to death in December by his mother.

Staffers at Public School 256 apparently sounded the first alarm about Nixzmary last year by reporting that she had been absent for weeks. Caseworkers spoke to the stepfather, the mother and the child and found no conclusive evidence of abuse, authorities said.

On Dec. 1, 2005, there was another report from someone claiming to have seen the girl with a swollen eye. A doctor concluded the injury was consistent with an explanation that she had fallen, but the agency kept the case open and kept trying to contact the parents.

Neighbors of the home where Nixzmary lived with five siblings said they also noticed unexplained injuries and said the child appeared malnourished and small for her age.

On Wednesday, the mother told authorities she found the girl unconscious in their home in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section at about 4 a.m. and called 911. The child was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical technicians; an autopsy found that she had died from a vicious blow to the head.

Investigators said there was evidence the girl had been held captive -- bound by her ankles to a chair. They suspect the
stepfather delivered a fatal blow to the child's head while dunking her in a bathtub as punishment, police said.

Under questioning, the stepfather tried to portray the girl as a problem child, police said.

The five other children, ages 6 months to 9 years, have been placed in the custody of the child welfare agency. All appeared healthy.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)