Jan 17, 2006 11:58 pm US/Eastern
Grand Jury Indicts Nixzmary's Parents
Both Parents Now Face Second Degree Murder Charges
by Pablo Guzmán
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
The parents of a 7-year-old girl who was tortured and beaten to death were indicted Tuesday on charges of
second-degree murder, the Brooklyn district attorney said.
"The allegations concerning the abuse and murder of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, if true, are among the most gruesome that I've ever encountered," District Attorney Charles Hynes said.
Nixzmary was found dead at her Brooklyn home on Jan. 11. Her mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, told authorities she found the girl unconscious and called 911. An autopsy found the girl had died from a blow to the head.
Investigators said there was evidence that Nixzmary had been bound by her ankles to a chair, and police have said they suspect her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, delivered a fatal blow to her while dunking her in a bathtub as punishment.
Rodriguez and Santiago have pleaded not guilty in the girl's death.
Administration for Children's Services Commissioner John Mattingly has said his agency was in a position to prevent the girl's death but failed to do so.
"It's not only a tragedy, it's an outrage what happened to this little girl, and it's extremely concerning to all of us at
Children's Services that we were not able to protect her," Mattingly said in a WABC Radio interview on Tuesday.
School employees had reported Nixzmary's repeated absences, and ACS received at least two reports of possible abuse. Mattingly has said the family was uncooperative but the agency should have obtained a court order to enter the home.
Nixzmary's death was the fourth homicide in recent months involving a family monitored by the Administration for Children's Services, which is reviewing all its cases.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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