redtwister

I read up on this, and I feel this is pathetic:

NEW YORK - In the eyes of her stepfather, 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown was an out-of-control troublemaker. She stole money from her parents and broke her siblings' toys, she stole milk from a younger sibling and broke their computer printer, he said. And when he found that she had gone into the refrigerator and taken a cup of yogurt she wasn't supposed to have, he flew into a rage.

Police say Cesar Rodriguez beat the little girl to death, then tossed her on the floor of what was known in the family's apartment as the "dirty room," a rodent-infested room where she had been tied up and left with only a litter box as a toilet.

During a jail interview with newspaper reporters, Rodriguez did not admit fatally beating his stepdaughter but said: "I have a lot of guilt."

"I'm sorry about all that happened. I have a problem with my emotions. It builds up and I hold it all in. I emotionally just burst," he said.

Nixzmary's killing reverberated throughout the city. Hundreds of strangers showed up at her funeral, and the case has been a daily fixture in the tabloids newspapers. It also has forced a major shake-up at the city's child protection agency."It touched everyone," said Caridad Ramos, 44, Nixzmary's great aunt.

Rodriguez, 27, and Nixzmary's mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, 27, are charged with multiple felony counts, including second-degree murder. Rodriguez also is accused of molesting Nixzmary and abusing her five siblings.

Both have pleaded not guilty.The case has shocked the most seasoned investigators and child advocates.

"The circumstances of the abuse this girl suffered were horrifying and among the most tragic that I've ever come across," said Erik Pitchal, director of the Center for Family and Child Advocacy at the Fordham School of Law. "The manner in which she spent her last days is heart wrenching."

There had been warning signs.Last May, a guidance counselor at Nixzmary's school reported the child had missed 47 days of school. The city's Administration for Children's Services responded immediately but closed the case weeks later.

The agency failed to find "educational neglect when it was clear the girl had not been attending school," said ACS Commissioner John Mattingly.

In early December, ACS received another complaint about Nixzmary. She, her siblings and her stepfather were interviewed but Mattingly said caseworkers were unable to gain access to Nixzmary's home. The case stalled.

Santiago's relatives said they didn't know what was taking place. They lost contact after Nixzmary moved from Puerto Rico to New York several years ago.Ramos, Santiago's aunt, said she hadn't seen Nixzmary in four years.

"If the family had been aware this never would have happened," Ramos said. "Never. Never. Never."

An indictment alleges that, beginning on New Year's Day, Rodriguez used anything he could to subdue the little girl he described as "a handful," including a belt, a piece of wood, a bungee cord.

Authorities said he bought yogurt for his children but refused to give Nixzmary any.

On the night of Jan. 10, Nixzmary's mother discovered one of the yogurt cups was missing, and she went to Rodriguez. The frightened girl denied taking it, but one of the other children tattled, authorities say.

Later, Rodriguez discovered his computer printer was broken. He stripped Nixzmary of her clothes and beat her in front of Santiago, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said.

He dragged her into the bathroom and repeatedly dunked her head under the cold water, and loud banging noises and screams of "Mommy" were heard throughout the apartment, authorities say. Rodriguez carried Nixzmary's limp body into the dirty room and tossed her to the floor, Hynes said.

Along with Nixzmary's slaying, the ACS's record has been highlighted by the bumbling of two recent cases in which another 7-year-old girl was murdered and a baby drowned.

Since her death, six ACS employees have been suspended or reassigned. In just the first week, the agency received 2,170 reports of child abuse and neglect, a 71 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

Before Nixzmary's little white coffin was laid to rest, the Rev. Robert O'Neil said her nightmare was finally over. "Nixzmary is now surrounded by love, beyond the touch of evil," he said.

What drives a person to go this far? Things like these should never happen. Just disgraceful.

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Slakziesig

Still not quite as sad as the story I read about an 11 year old girl who had her puppy stolen and then hanged herself, but still pretty sad. Hopefully the people who fucked up the case and could've saved her are tormented by guilt for the rest of their lives.

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XCI

I'm sad that they couldn't have found help for the man who seriously had some mental issues.

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Cyberopts

No, but see, people who kill their own children have slightly bigger problems than can be classified as an "issue." These sorts of people don't need rehab. They need to be castrated so that they can't have more children and do the same thing to them. Then they need to be put into the prison system, not some comfy psych ward with padded walls and five different people to look after their every need. They need cold hard reality. Let some hardened criminals find out that they kill children and they won't last very long in the real world. Let them get what they deserve. Even people who kill and steal for livings know when to draw the line. You don't kill kids. Inmates would simply beat the holy Hell out of them just for giving the rest of the criminal society a bad name. They'd do it just out of principle.

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Slakziesig

Don't be silly. That guy had serious mental issues, killing him solves nothing. Killing him painfully solves less. Sure, it makes you feel a little better, but that's not what justice is about. Put him in rehab, make a somewhat decent person out of him again and release him back into society so he can contribute to it again. Or, if he's obviously too much of a psycho to be cured, lock him up somewhere so he can't do it again. Nobody has the right to sentence another man to death. Besides, stone, first, Jesus, throwing. ;)

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<br />Some stuff on Belgium, if you happen to be interested. <br /><br /> Voted Most Opinionated Member and Funniest Person last year. Not this year 'cause you guys all suck!

XCI

You're right... if we needlessly torture them enough, we can talk some sence into their crazy asses!

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Merforga

Salvation lies with the Lord.

Cyberopts

If your right hand offends you, cut it off. If your eye hurts you, pluck it out. As part of society, these individuals contribute nothing. I didn't say to kill them. I said to lock them up. There are consequences to your actions. Everyone knows that, no matter how derranged they are. Self-mutilators need therapy. People with eating disorders need therapy. MURDERERS need prison.

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Gypsy

Prison without parole too. This guy needs solitary for life.

XCI

If someone is so clinically insane that they don't live in the same world as the rest of us, they don't have an idea what punishment is... and that murder is wrong, or that some things are concidered inappropriate while others are concidered proper.

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