Jan 3, 2007 7:45 pm US/Eastern
Nixzmary's Last Night: Mother Tells Tragic Details
by Pablo Guzmán
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Nixzmary Brown was beaten and tortured to death, and now her mother has revealed shocking details of her final night alive.
AP
The tragic murder of Nixzmary Brown has gripped much of the tri-state area, after the young girl was found beaten, tortured, and left to die allegedly at the hands of her own stepfather. Now CBS 2 has learned the child's mother told police graphic details on videotape of her daughter's final night alive.
In the video, Nixzaliz Santiago is shown a picture taken after her daughter was found dead in her apartment. The picture of the girl's body shows many of the bruises and marks she suffered before she died. On her back, for example, there is not even and inch without a scar. Santiago gasps when she's given the snapshot.
The District Attorney in the tape also asks the mother what made her think that Nixzmary was still alive? Santiago says she watched her husband, Cesar Rodriguez, alternately submerge the girl under the cold water of a running bath faucet and then slam her head against the tub. But when she heard her daughter moaning, in her mind she somehow believed that meant the girl was fine.
A jury is now going to be allowed to view the video which was made when Santiago was first taken into custody. They are going to be told that as her daughter was dying, Santiago did nothing to save her.
But even though the pictures say otherwise, Santiago tries to say she doesn't know how the incident could have happened.
Santiago will claim that she was frightened of her husband, who said he was trying to discipline a wild child. Both are being tried in Nixzmary's death, and after looking at the tapes, the jury may very well decide they are both accountable in the end.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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