Stepdad Attacks Starving Girl Over a Single Cup of Yogurt — What Happens Next Will Shock You!
Nixzmary Brown was born on July 18, 1998, in Waterbury, Connecticut, to parents Nixzaliz Santiago and Abdul Rahman Mian, and went on to live in Brooklyn, New York. She had two sisters and four brothers, but they didn’t share the same father. As many of the siblings’ names have been redacted from official documents, we’ll be referring to some of them by their first initials during our story. Her mother, Nixzaliz, was raised in a tranquil household in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, along with her four brothers. Her father left the family when she was a young girl. Soon, Nixzaliz found herself pregnant with her first child, Javier, when she was just a teenager. The father, Carlos Batista Cruz, didn’t stay in her life for long.
Soon, Nixzaliz left the small coastal town and went to New York in the mid-1990s with her son in tow. But she soon found love again with Abdul Rahman. You see, the two first met when he struck up a conversation with Nixzaliz and her aunt as they all watched a street fight in their neighborhood. Neither of them knew any of the people involved, but it gave him a reason to approach her. The pair dated on and off for six months, after which Nixzaliz found herself pregnant again. However, Abdul Rahman didn’t want to be a father and wanted the young mother to terminate her pregnancy, but she would not.
Determined to have her baby, Nixzaliz disappeared first to a homeless shelter near Shea Stadium and then to Connecticut, where she met Edward Brown, with whom she later had two children. As for Abdul Rahman’s baby, Nixzaliz named her Nixzmary—a play on her own name—and gave the little girl Edward’s last name. According to relatives, Edward adored the children, and even though Nixzmary wasn’t his own, he still loved her as if she was. However, the relationship later ended, and at some point, Nixzaliz met and married a man named Cesar Rodriguez. Cesar came to New York from the Mexican state of Guerrero as a child, settling in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army and later worked as a security guard in the building in which Nixzaliz and her children lived.
They later moved into a second-story, three-bedroom unit located at 571 Greene Avenue in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, above what is now the Little Roy Coffee Shop. Nixzmary went on to attend PS 256 Benjamin Banneker Magnet School of Architecture and Engineering, just a few blocks away on Kosciusko Street. She was described as a typical seven-year-old girl with lots of friends. As the family spoke Spanish at home, Nixzmary needed help learning English while in school. Nixzmary became friends with another little girl named Janelle, who helped teach her English and check her homework.
Nixzmary would practice writing letters at school, detailing how much she enjoyed her friends and spending time with them. She knew that she wanted to communicate with her friends as best as she could, and even at just seven years old, Nixzmary was very focused. According to her aunt, Iris Rodriguez, her niece was so determined to learn English that she would go around picking up everything she could with English on it to try to read it. Nixzmary, now seven years old, was described by her family members as a vivacious young girl who was always full of life. Her innocent smile and energy would light up a room. She was an adorable little girl who loved to play with Barbie dolls, her siblings, and her cat, Angel. Unfortunately, behind that beautiful smile, there was a little girl whose young mind, body, and spirit were being put through the worst treatment imaginable.
On May 16, 2005, the very first allegations of child abuse against young Nixzmary were filed. At the time, the little girl was in first grade and had missed 46 days of school. The report also noted that Nixzmary’s eight-year-old brother, Javier, had told the school staff that Nixzmary had burned her hand on a stove and that she had fallen out of bed, hitting her head and foot. At the time of the report, there were four other children living in the household, ranging in age from one year to eight years old, and Nixzaliz was seven months pregnant. On the same day, a caseworker with the Administration for Children’s Services, or ACS, attempted to conduct a home visit at the family’s apartment, which was unsuccessful.
On May 18th, they returned, conducted a home visit, and interviewed the family members. The interview was conducted in Spanish, as it was the primary language spoken by the family. The caseworker determined that the living situation was adequate; there was sufficient food, clothing, and sleeping arrangements for the five children. During this visit, the caseworker noticed what appeared to be a healing injury consistent with a burn on Nixzmary’s hand. Both Nixzaliz and Cesar denied knowing how the injury had occurred. Nixzaliz also noted that she was unaware that Nixzmary had fallen out of bed.
Nixzmary told the caseworker that she had burned herself on the radiator in her bedroom, which had been dripping hot water. She also shared that she didn’t remember falling out of her bed. Nixzmary’s brother Javier told the caseworker the same explanation for Nixzmary’s injury, although he had originally told the reporting guidance counselor a different story. The caseworker also noticed that Javier had scratches on his face. Javier told the caseworker that he had scratched himself running into a tree outside school. Nixzmary’s younger brother, only known through reports by the initial “E,” who was a month away from his sixth birthday, told the caseworker that Nixzmary had burned her hand on the living room radiator. He also said that Nixzmary did not fall out of bed.
It should be noted that the caseworker never asked Nixzmary or her siblings when she injured her hand. This would have been important, as the home visit took place in mid-May when the radiator shouldn’t have even been on. In addition, Nixzaliz shared with the caseworker that Cesar was the father of her unborn child, as well as her one-year-old son, Cesar Jr. She told the caseworker that another man was the father of her other children and that she had a protection order against him as a result of domestic violence when she lived with him in Connecticut. However, the caseworker never obtained a copy of this protection order, never investigated her claims of domestic violence, and never looked into whether or not Nixzaliz received any form of counseling. These were all things that caseworkers are expected to investigate when incidents of domestic violence are brought up with both current and past partners.
During this home visit, the caseworker expressed concern to Nixzaliz that Nixzmary appeared both shy and very thin. Nixzaliz claimed that her daughter often refused to eat, and she had discussed this problem with her doctor. She told the caseworker that the children were up to date on their immunizations and provided them with the name and telephone number of their pediatrician. The caseworker obtained her signature on a consent form for ACS to review the children’s medical records. However, the caseworker never spoke to the children’s pediatrician or obtained copies of their medical records. In fact, they never even looked into any of Nixzaliz’s claims. When asked about Nixzmary’s absences from school, Nixzaliz did not deny that Nixzmary had missed a great deal of school. She claimed that due to her pregnancy, she often had trouble getting her children to school on time.
However, none of this really passed the sniff test. According to school staff, Nixzaliz routinely walked her children to school and picked them up at the end of the day. Nixzmary’s brother Javier had missed 14 days fewer than his sister, and keep in mind, the school wasn’t that far away. It was less than a half-mile from the family’s apartment. This was 2005, and times were different back then; a lot of kids walked to school by themselves. The mother further claimed that Cesar was rarely available to take the children to school because of his work schedule. He worked as a security guard at the State Building located at 55 Hanson Place in Brooklyn, where he earned about $450 a week. She shared that her husband didn’t work on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on those days, he helped drop off and pick up the children from school. Again, the caseworker didn’t bother to verify these claims with Cesar’s work or the school.
Although the caseworker was instructed by her supervisor on the day of the hotline report to contact the reporting guidance counselor, the caseworker did not speak to the counselor until June 27th, nearly six weeks after the hotline report was made. When the caseworker finally interviewed the guidance counselor, it was by telephone, not a face-to-face interview. During this call, the caseworker failed to mention any of Javier’s claims. ACS records reflect that the guidance counselor told the caseworker that Nixzmary’s school attendance had improved, although that was incorrect. It was later found that Nixzmary had been absent for more than 50 percent of the school days between May 16th and the end of the school year on June 28th, even after the ACS home visit. In fact, Nixzmary had been absent from school 56 out of the possible 177 days and late on an additional 17 of them.
On July 7, 2005, the caseworker conducted another home visit, during which Cesar and the children were at home. Nixzaliz had just given birth and was still in the hospital. The caseworker discussed Nixzmary’s weight with Cesar. He also claimed, as Nixzaliz had prior, that Nixzmary often did not want to eat. At the conclusion of the home visit, the caseworker promised to provide a referral for a crib, then later arranged for a crib, a double stroller, and a high chair to be delivered to the family. The following day, the caseworker closed the May 16th complaint as unfounded.
On December 1, 2005, Margarita Cotto, a school social worker, made a report to the hotline alleging that Nixzmary and her mother were being physically beaten by Cesar. The social worker alleged that Nixzmary had a laceration on her forehead and a bruised eye, she was very withdrawn, and she often missed school. It was also noted that Nixzaliz herself was withdrawn and passive, taking no action to protect herself or the children. The report further stated that Cesar intimidated all the children in the household to prevent them from discussing what was going on in the home. The social worker reported that she did not want to send the children home from school because she had serious concerns for their immediate safety. The report further stated that Cesar typically picked up the children from school and that Nixzaliz was pregnant again.
Because the reporting social worker expressed concern for the safety of the children, the hotline report was routed to the Instant Response Team, or IRT, at ACS’s Brooklyn field office for immediate response. But as with everything thus far in this story, the ball was dropped along the way, and there remains a significant dispute between ACS and the NYPD as to whether the report was designated as an IRT case. The IRT kept a copy of the receipt showing a fax transmission of documents to the Child Advocacy Center on that day, which establishes that five pages were faxed to the Brooklyn Child Advocacy Center at 3:18 PM. However, there was no way to determine from this fax receipt whether these documents included the hotline report or were at all related to Nixzmary Brown. The IRT also claimed that they had a conversation with a detective, and they believed that the NYPD would meet ACS staff at the school to assist in the initial interviews of the children and to provide whatever other support was necessary.
However, the ACS caseworker and supervisor arrived at Nixzmary’s school at approximately 2:20 PM to interview the children, almost a full hour prior to the fax being sent. Had the IRT protocol been triggered, the ACS staff should have waited for the NYPD to arrive to conduct joint interviews with the children. However, the NYPD has strongly contested that the report was ever designated as an IRT case. The NYPD has also stated that at approximately 3:05 PM, a detective from the Brooklyn Child Abuse Squad received a telephone call from the IRT seeking advice about the case. According to the NYPD, the IRT told the detective that Nixzmary had visible injuries to her face but said that no one was alleging these injuries were intentionally inflicted.
The NYPD further stated the IRT told the detective that a caseworker and her supervisor were at Nixzmary’s school and Cesar, the children’s stepfather, was on his way to the school. Although no criminality was alleged, he seemed belligerent in a telephone call with ACS staff. The NYPD detective had worked with the ACS supervisor of the Brooklyn Child Advocacy Center and, because of that prior working relationship, agreed to go to the school to assist the supervisor in dealing with Cesar. The NYPD stated that had the detective and the ACS supervisor not known one another, the detective would have directed the IRT to call 911 for assistance, as this was required by their protocol. Detectives arrived at the school at approximately 3:35 PM, by which time the ACS staff had been at the school for over an hour and already interviewed Nixzmary and her siblings.
The ACS caseworker told the detectives that nothing was going on and relayed Cesar’s account that Nixzmary had just fallen on a piece of wood. The ACS supervisor stated that they did not need any assistance from detectives. Although the detective offered to run a query in the NYPD database to determine if the family had a history, that check ended up proving negative. The ACS supervisor told the detectives that they were leaving to take the family home and did not require any further assistance from the NYPD.
As mentioned prior, at approximately 2:20 PM on December 1st, an ACS caseworker and her supervisor arrived at the school where they spoke with the interim acting principal. The principal reported that Nixzmary had come to school on several occasions with bruises. Although the school did not call the hotline on those occasions, she said she was worried because Nixzmary’s injuries appeared to be getting more serious. The caseworker and her supervisor then interviewed Nixzmary and her three siblings. Nixzmary had a bruised and swollen right eye and a bandaged gash above that eye about two inches long.
During her interview, Nixzmary claimed that she had injured herself by falling on a piece of wood in her apartment. She also claimed that her stepfather had thrown the wood out after her fall and had taken her to the hospital thereafter. Nixzmary’s older brother, Javier, repeated this story but claimed that he and his younger brother were the ones that threw the wood out. Nixzmary’s younger sister, known only by the initial “S,” who was five years old at this time, told ACS staff that Cesar, their stepfather, had caused Nixzmary’s injuries. Caseworkers asked her to explain how it happened, but “S” only pointed to the window and did not offer an explanation. So the caseworker asked again, but she simply just pointed to the window once more.
The supervisor also attempted to interview Nixzmary’s brother, only known by the initial “E.” He was six years old at this time, but his speech impediment made it very difficult to understand him. It should also be noted that the caseworkers in question conducted these interviews in English, despite Spanish being the primary language spoken at the home by the family. After interviewing the children, the caseworker and her supervisor interviewed Cesar. He said that Nixzmary had fallen on some wood and he would say nothing further on this matter. Cesar did provide the caseworker with a copy of Woodhull Hospital’s discharge summary from Nixzmary’s visit to the emergency room on November 28th for her injuries. This summary indicated that Nixzmary should return to the hospital in seven days to have her stitches removed.
However, there are no records indicating that ACS ever contacted the hospital to confirm the series of events with the treating physician. When questioned about it later, the caseworker claimed she had a phone conversation with the doctor, whom she could not name, and alleged that she must have forgotten to document the call. The caseworker and her supervisor interviewed Nixzaliz later that same day at the family’s apartment. This was the only successful home visit conducted by ACS in the investigation of the December allegations. During the interview, Nixzaliz said that she had a miscarriage on the day that Nixzmary was injured and, as a result, did not see how Nixzmary’s injury occurred. She offered to show the caseworker and her supervisor the miscarried fetus, which she claimed to keep in a jar in her bedroom. Both of them declined this invitation.
On December 5th, the caseworker noted in her records that ACS should consider Nixzaliz for mental health services or grief counseling, given that she was keeping a miscarried fetus in a jar. However, referrals were never made. In addition, there was no record that the caseworker or her supervisor asked Cesar, Nixzmary, or her siblings to identify precisely where Nixzmary had fallen on the wood once they were back at the apartment. On December 6th, the supervisor assigned a new caseworker to, among other things, conduct a follow-up home visit to introduce herself to the family. During the visit, she was to discuss any service needs with the family and encourage them to address a number of necessary repairs identified during the home visit. Most importantly, she was to discuss with Nixzaliz her desire to keep her miscarried fetus in a jar in her bedroom and inquire whether the children had seen this fetus. The caseworker was unsuccessful in conducting any follow-up home visits or addressing any of the other directives identified by her supervisor.
On December 8, 2005, the assigned caseworker attempted to conduct a home visit, but Cesar refused to allow her in, claiming that no one was at home and he was about to leave. Cesar came downstairs, and the caseworker gave her card to him and said that she would contact him the following day to schedule a home visit. The following day, the caseworker called the home four times but could not reach anyone. At this point, the caseworker could have sought a warrant that compelled Cesar and Nixzaliz to produce their children and allow entry into their home. The family court can issue a warrant of entry when there is probable cause to believe that a child is in danger and the caseworker is refused access to the home. The family court can also issue a warrant directing that a child be brought before the court when there is evidence a child is in danger and the parent refuses to permit an investigation.
However, despite all of this, the caseworker failed to do anything at all. Instead, from December 16th through December 20th, the assigned caseworker went on vacation. The caseworker was not temporarily reassigned, and ACS records reflect no activity whatsoever during this period by a substitute caseworker or anyone else at ACS. At some point on December 21st or 22nd, the caseworker’s supervisor was contacted by school officials who reported that Nixzmary and her siblings had not been to school in two weeks. The caseworker attempted to contact the family by telephone but learned that their telephone number was not in service. The supervisor later told investigators that she attempted a home visit on December 21st or 22nd but was unsuccessful. On December 23rd, the caseworker made another attempt at a home visit.
On January 4, 2006, ACS received a telephone call from a school social worker reporting that Nixzmary and her siblings continued to be absent from school. Allegedly, the supervisor attempted another home visit on January 5th. It should be noted that ACS records do not show documentation of any of these home visit attempts. On January 10th, the caseworker and her supervisors decided to request that Emergency Children’s Services attempt a home visit over the following weekend. However, their direct supervisor expressed concerns about waiting until the weekend and directed the caseworkers to attempt another home visit that evening. Because the caseworker had another assignment that night, she was told to wait until the following day. This following day was January 11, 2006.
When the caseworker tried to visit the home again and arrived, police and EMTs were already on the scene and had been since around 4:30 that morning. Nixzmary was dead. According to one of the EMTs when he arrived, Nixzmary was lying on the floor wearing only pajama bottoms, with a folded-up shirt underneath her head. He noticed that Nixzmary had injuries on her face, wrists, and ankles, and suspected that this was not an accident. The little girl had two giant black eyes. According to the EMT, Nixzaliz and Cesar claimed to have put Nixzmary in the bathtub and then forgotten about her for three hours. However, according to the Office of the Medical Examiner, Nixzmary’s tiny body told a different story.
She had a variety of injuries to her head, torso, arms, and legs of varying ages. Nixzmary was seven years old and weighed 36 pounds at the time of her death. The average weight of a seven-year-old girl is 50.4 pounds. But the fact that she was wasting away wasn’t what killed her. The medical examiner concluded that Nixzmary had died as a result of a brain hemorrhage caused by a blow to the head. The most tragic part: all of this could have been prevented had the caseworker made the home visit on January 10th.
That evening, Cesar flew into a rage when he learned that his computer printer wasn’t working. One of Nixzmary’s siblings blamed the whole thing on her. In addition, he noticed that a single cup of yogurt was missing from the refrigerator. When he asked Nixzaliz who had taken it, she blamed Nixzmary. This caused Cesar to go berserk. While Nixzaliz looked on, Cesar started beating her small body with closed fists at full force, and then took off his thick leather belt and began to strike her with it. He kept saying, “This is for your own good.” Cesar stripped the little girl and dragged her into the bathroom, turned on the cold water from the bathtub faucet, and thrust her head underneath the freezing water. Allegedly, loud banging noises and Nixzmary screaming for her mommy could be heard throughout the apartment. Finally, Cesar grabbed Nixzmary by her head and slammed it into the bathtub at full force.
The stepfather tossed her battered and severely malnourished body onto the floor of a filthy bedroom where she was kept like a prisoner for her remaining day. There she lay on the floor in the fetal position, moaning in pain and uttering some of her final words, which were, “Mommy, mommy, don’t leave me.” While laying there alone on the cold wooden floor, Nixzmary would have gone through all of the stages of death from a brain bleed: a headache, nausea, confusion, sleepiness, a coma, and then finally respiratory depression.
Both Cesar Rodriguez and Nixzaliz Santiago Rodriguez were arrested. Their surviving children were placed in foster care. Cesar was charged with second-degree homicide as well as first and second-degree manslaughter. He was also charged with sexual assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and child endangerment, as well as other charges related to the mistreatment of Nixzmary’s surviving siblings. Nixzaliz was charged with many of the same charges as her husband, as well as reckless endangerment for witnessing her daughter’s mistreatment and failing to report it or seek medical attention.
At trial, detailing what was occurring behind closed doors at 571 Greene Avenue in Bed-Stuy, prosecutors unveiled a child’s wooden school chair with a length of nylon twine tied to it, a blood-stained Donald Duck pillow, a cat litter box with its contents which included 13 lumps of human excrement, and a blanket trailing with a piece of duct tape. One by one, each of the items were unwrapped like gruesome presents for the jury to see. But how did these items relate to the case? Well, according to Cesar’s own videotaped statement, the chair was used whenever he felt that Nixzmary was misbehaving. She was tied to it with twine, duct tape, or bungee cords, all of which cut into her ankles. The blood that was on the Donald Duck pillow, as well as many other clothing items and towels, was Nixzmary’s. In fact, a DNA expert would later testify that blood could be found all over the apartment.
In the cat box, this was her toilet. Cesar and Nixzaliz kept the little girl locked away in a derelict bedroom all alone, with nothing but a cat box to use to relieve herself. She was literally a prisoner in her own bedroom. While the rest of her family slept on comfortable beds, Nixzmary slept in a filthy, rat-infested bedroom on a dirty mattress. Jurors were shown pictures of the family’s well-stocked refrigerator full of milk, pancake mix, salami, tortillas, cream cheese, lettuce, and the yogurt that was missing that Nixzmary allegedly stole the night she died. But instead of being allowed to feast on the many foods that the family had in their possession, Nixzmary was forced to consume cat food.
In addition, jurors were shown a shocking video that took place just 32 hours before the little girl was found dead. While bruised and battered Nixzmary Brown sat home alone, her family was out enjoying a fun-filled shopping trip for toys. Her mother, stepfather, and five brothers and sisters were at Target picking up Power Ranger toys and sweets. The tape showed Rodriguez paying cash at the Target in downtown Brooklyn’s Atlantic Center Mall for Power Rangers action figures, Hot Wheels cars, Play-Doh, Bratz dolls, and Jell-O shortly before 7:30 PM on January 9, 2006. Nixzaliz is then seen leading the family and pushing her youngest son, Cesar Jr., in a stroller. Nixzmary is nowhere to be seen in this footage.
However, Jeffrey T. Schwartz, a lawyer for the defense, had the audacity to paint little Nixzmary as a villain. He described Nixzmary as a force of destruction who terrorized her younger siblings. He said she refused to be disciplined, slipping the ropes that bound her to the chair in her room. He called her a “little Houdini.” On the last night of her life, in his words, “she needed to be corrected.” Attorney Schwartz defended Cesar’s approach to parenting as that of an over-taxed man doing his best to maintain order in a chaotic household. He said, quote, “It’s one thing to say Cesar Rodriguez was beating up on this little 36-pound, seven-year-old girl, but think about it: all the other kids were younger and smaller,” end quote. Nixzmary, he said, would cut and hit the other children, and Cesar feared for their safety.
As for what Nixzmary did to provoke Cesar’s wrath on the last night of her life, Attorney Schwartz said, quote, “It’s easy to say, ‘Ah, he killed a kid and beat her because of yogurt.’ Many of us don’t have yogurt problems. But when you’re poor and you can’t afford unlimited amounts of food and you have six children, you have to make sure that everyone gets what they’re entitled to get so that you can ensure that everyone stays healthy,” end quote. You have got to be f***ing kidding me.
He went on to portray Nixzaliz as a clear villain: a manipulative woman prone to fits of rage who beat Nixzmary viciously, saying she was responsible for an attack that sent the girl to the hospital just weeks before her death. Attorney Schwartz alleged that Nixzaliz held resentment towards her daughter for, in his opinion, causing her miscarriage. In fact, the jury was shown a ghoulish picture of what appeared to be a miscarried fetus in a jar on Nixzmary’s mother’s dresser. Cesar, Attorney Schwartz said, was Nixzaliz’s knight in shining armor, a hard-working man who got her and, in his words, “her brood” out of the homeless shelter system. He took the six children to nearby parks, bought them toys, and most importantly, tried to teach them right from wrong. He went on to state that Cesar had picked up some strange ways of showing his love from his own father, such as holding Nixzmary’s head under freezing water, for example, as his own father had done to him, but he only wanted the best for his children.
The defense also called Vanessa Rhoden, the ACS caseworker that had visited the family on December 1st. Ms. Rhoden claimed that when she went to the family’s apartment, she found a home that was neatly cleaned with an abundance of food and toys. She stated that Nixzmary was well-groomed and dressed appropriately. She concluded that the children were not at imminent risk at the time, and the home was a safe environment, in her opinion. Ms. Rhoden said that she was concerned by the fetus on display in the bedroom. She said, “I told her it was not healthy to keep that in the house.”
The jury also heard testimony from an unnamed inmate from Rikers Island. As we mentioned previously, Cesar was also being charged with sexual assault, and this inmate had the alleged details. She claimed that Nixzaliz desired to hurt her daughter because she discovered Cesar making this little girl perform oral on him. The inmate said that Nixzaliz referred to Nixzmary as “diablo.” What is important to note is that even with the inmate’s testimony, the sexual assault charges against Cesar were dropped, as the medical examiner could not find any definitive proof that the crime had occurred.
According to Nixzaliz’s lawyer, Sammy Sanchez, his client loved Nixzmary, but she couldn’t help the girl because she was dealing with so many other things, including a miscarriage that Sanchez claimed was caused by Cesar. He said, quote, “You know why she didn’t call the police? There was no phone. He disconnected the phone. He isolated the family. The more violent he became, the more he isolated the family,” end quote.
On March 18, 2008, Cesar Rodriguez was convicted of first-degree manslaughter. He faced a maximum of 29 years for the manslaughter charge, weapons possession, and endangering the welfare of a child. On April 3rd, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice L. Priscilla Hall sentenced Cesar to a term of 26 to 29 years in prison. He was given 25 years for first-degree manslaughter and one to four years for false imprisonment. A jury returns a verdict in the case of a Brooklyn man charged with beating his seven-year-old stepdaughter to death. New York 1’s Janine Ramirez was in court throughout the trial; she has more on a decision that left neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys satisfied.
“After a trial that lasted almost three months, Cesar Rodriguez escaped a murder conviction in the beating death of his stepdaughter, Nixzmary Brown. He was convicted instead of first-degree manslaughter. That means jurors found that he recklessly intended to hurt Nixzmary badly and that she died as a result.”
“At least they’re holding him accountable by way of manslaughter in the first degree. He did kill her. The issue is, was it depraved indifference or was it mere reckless? They believe, and they have spoken, it was reckless.”
Rodriguez’s lawyers also expressed disappointment in the verdict, claiming if he should have been convicted of anything, it should have been a lesser charge. They accused the District Attorney’s office of withholding evidence.
“I find no delight in him being acquitted of the top charges because I think he should have been acquitted of more of the top charges. I take no comfort in the fact that he got his day in court because his day in court was perverted and was not just.”
“With New York City’s child welfare services, tonight, is this justice for Nixzmary, who was battered and abused to the very end? The case is not over yet. Chris Glorioso is live in downtown Brooklyn tonight with a look at today’s verdicts and what happens next. Chris?”
“Jim, he killed his stepdaughter while punishing her for taking a yogurt snack out of the refrigerator, and tonight Cesar Rodriguez’s lawyer says he will likely go to prison for a quarter-century. But some say he got off easy; instead of a manslaughter conviction, they wanted a murder conviction.”
“I just don’t understand how this guy just got away with it.”
Emotions overflowed after a jury decided not to hand Cesar Rodriguez a potential life sentence. On tape, he admitted to repeatedly abusing his stepdaughter, Nixzmary Brown. Still, sullen jurors declined to convict him of the highest charge, second-degree murder, instead favoring manslaughter.
“The verdict was the verdict, uh, you all heard it. They made a determination that Cesar Rodriguez, what the actions that he did, did not amount to depraved indifference murder, and that it was just mere reckless.”
The verdict stung Awilda Cordero, a longtime spokeswoman for Nixzmary’s grandmother. She believes Rodriguez was the primary killer.
“He knew what he was doing to her. He was tying her up. He was doing all these bruises to her every day and beating her. And you’re gonna tell me he didn’t know what he was capable of? Maybe killing this little girl, but putting duct tape on her hands and tied to the chair?”
Defense lawyers contend Cesar Rodriguez’s confession proves only that he was an abusive parent, not a man who intended to kill. The same defense team says prosecutors abused their duty by withholding key evidence.
“To the District Attorneys in this case, I would just say shame on you for cheating and for having to cheat in a high-profile case to try to secure a conviction at all costs, which they were not able to even do with cheating.”
With Rodriguez convicted of the lesser manslaughter charge, the D.A. will now try Nixzmary’s mother, Nixzaliz Santiago. She too faces a murder charge. With Nixzaliz Santiago, the theory of the prosecution has always been a failure to provide prompt medical attention. Now, the Rodriguez defense team insists that Nixzaliz Santiago, the mother, was indeed the parent who delivered the fatal blow. They have said Santiago became demented and convinced that Nixzmary was a devil after Santiago had a miscarriage in 2005. Her trial will begin in the coming weeks.
Nixzaliz Santiago Rodriguez was found guilty of manslaughter, the same verdict that Cesar had received. She was acquitted of the more serious charge of second-degree homicide. However, because she was also convicted of four lesser crimes, including assault, unlawful imprisonment, and child endangerment, she would face more time when sentenced. Nixzaliz was sentenced on November 12, 2008, to 43 years in prison. However, on appeal, her sentence was reduced to 33 and a third to 36 years. A protection order was put in place to prevent her from seeing her other children.
“On Friday afternoon, after 18 hours of deliberation over three days, a jury of 10 women and two men convicted the mother, Santiago, of first-degree manslaughter but acquitted her of murder. The murder charge could have put Santiago away for life, but as it is, she’ll still face up to 33 years in prison. By its verdict, the jury held Santiago responsible for not stepping in and stopping the horrendous abuse inflicted on the girl by her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez. Jurors heard evidence that he duct-taped her mouth shut, bungee-corded her to a chair, and forced her to use a kitty litter box as a bathroom.”
Prosecutor Ahmad Jamo said the verdict sent a clear message: “Because what it says in no uncertain terms: you have a duty to your children, and your duty is as simple as protecting them.”
Defense lawyer Kathleen Mullen said her client was upset but nonetheless thankful that the jury did not convict on the murder charge. “We’re very satisfied that she was acquitted of the murder charge, and we believed all along that she should have been acquitted of the murder charge. But you know, I can’t lie to you, we’re disappointed with the intentional elements of the remaining charges and the convictions on those intentional.”
Santiago’s mother, Maria Gonzalez, the grandmother of Nixzmary Brown, who has taken heat for not stepping in to stop the terrible abuse the little girl was suffering, left Brooklyn Supreme Court without a word. She has filed a $250 million lawsuit against the city for the girl’s death.
The journey for justice for Nixzmary Brown is almost over, but our story does not end here. Unfortunately, a protection order was not put in place to prevent Cesar Rodriguez from having contact with the children. Therefore, in 2014, Nixzmary’s 15-year-old brother was arrested after his adoptive mother told police that he sexually assaulted two relatives, and it has been reported that the teenager’s stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, ordered him to commit this crime. In 2017, Nixzmary’s biological father, Abdul Rahman Mian, received a three-quarter of a million-dollar settlement from the city after he alleged the city failed to protect her. Then again, he didn’t do anything to protect Nixzmary either.
Nixzmary’s Law was proposed in January 2006 by New York State Senator Joseph Bruno shortly after these events. The law is designed to deter or prevent child abuse-related crimes by charging parents connected to the death of their children with first-degree homicide, the maximum punishment for which in New York State would be 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Since the passage of the law, reports have increased to the New York State Child Abuse Hotline.
Nixzmary’s funeral was held at St. Mary’s Church on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Her tiny body lay inside a small coffin draped with a white and red cloth before an altar still decorated with Christmas poinsettias. She was dressed in a white communion gown and veil and looked like a little doll. There was considerable anger during her burial, with two sides of Nixzmary’s family present. Cesar Rodriguez’s sister, Ira, showed up unexpectedly, and her appearance prompted shouts by others to leave, and at least one comment of her not being welcome.
Nixzmary Brown was laid to rest at the Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Her red granite gravestone bore an inscription written in Italian, which according to Google Translate, in English means, “An angel, and in our hearts.” An etching of two angels peering down at a sleeping baby is situated at the top, wrapped in a ribbon with the words, “Safe in the arms of God.” Let’s just hope that wherever Nixzmary is now, she is safe from anyone that would wish to inflict harm upon her and is resting in peace.
