GUILTY NY - Nixzmary Brown, 7, beaten to death in Brooklyn, 11 Jan 2006

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I guess it is time for people to be more pro-active. Next time you see some mother screaming at her child in the grocery store suggest that might not be the best way to deal with it and that her child is a person too. How would she like it if someone screamed at her for a small insignificant thing? She would be outraged, right? Or you see a child with bruises and ask what happened and they cower with fear....you can bet something is going on that they are ashamed of or afraid of. If you see a child with those blank staring eyes that don't respond to stimulus some other thing is going on.
 
When my two daughters were still in elementary school the youngest in second grade I used to pick them up after school and on one of these occasions there was a woman beating her son up on the grass outside the fence but still school property. I didn't know who they were but my daughters did and shortly after recounted to me that they had seen this woman do this many times, the little boy was in my youngest daughters class. When I say beat she was using her fists to punch him and kicking him repeatedly about the body but also in the head. I found out more about them afterwards but my reaction was immediate without thought I guess because it was very alarming to see this, did I stop to think about her pressing charges against me so I better not touch her? Mind my own business it's her kid? Nope, I reacted and in front of my two daughters as well. My husband told me later that I should've minded my own business the woman lived one street down and he had seen her many times running around at 5am in her robe when he was going to work and she was a drug addict.

This woman had been reported to cps many times but mostly because of neglect and the drugs and a few times did jail time on the drugs but still seemed to escalate up to the point of the day I saw her beating her little boy unmercily, for God's sake he was a second grader in my daughters class! What I can tell you is that up until I moved from the area (9 months) Lucas (abused boy) let my daughter know that his mother never hit him again. I saw her on occasion after that day and she had a new attitude. I don't know how things ever turned out for that little boy over time but cps and LE weren't an effective deterrent at the time. The other example I had given way back about a good family friend (woman) hitting my ex with a baseball bat and then friends and such showing up for vigilante justice because LE would not help me at the time goes to show the mentality of the types that beat on women and children understand nothing but having their asses kicked. In both cases they didn't press charges because they too would looking at an arrest.
 
Good for you, Strach! I applaud you for taking a stand. Hopefully, more people will get involved when they see something going on, instead of just watching it happen.
 
The whole system is dependent on underpaid, inexperienced, workers who work within a system with few resources. When ever a general budget needs to be cut, they are often the first to be cut and recieve the largest cuts.
And the secrecy they work under, unfortunately the problems are often hidden under the same rug, by that often used phrase- we aren't permitted to discuss this due to the individual's right to privacy. Well some type of accountablity needs to be set up. Give them more money. But then watch them to make sure it is being spent on increasing services, education, and better workers!

-----

First I would like to say hello to everyone. I am new to this forum and website and have been spending to time reading threads and posts. The particualr case disturbed me deeply, reminding me of the case of Lisa who died at the hands of Hedda and Joel Steinberg. The post I have copied above makes a very good point in my opinion, however, how does one judge "better workers"? who have a better education? These people already have a Ba or MA in social work. Perhaps this is the problem. Maybe the state requirements should have the initial investigators trained in child abuse and the follow ups by social workers. That could put more people in the field because I think that is where the problem begins. Also, there is a huge problem with retaliation calls the cps. Last year I believe I read that over 80% were calls that were made to get back at neighbor, to harrass them. With workers spending time on these then it becomes apparent that the true abuse calls can slip through their fingers. Maybe something needs to be done in the system about this also. Anyway just rambling here because there are so many factors that contributed to the death of this child, but I don't believe cps should be standing with parents on trial as I read in a thread here somewhere.
 
strach304 said:
When my two daughters were still in elementary school the youngest in second grade I used to pick them up after school and on one of these occasions there was a woman beating her son up on the grass outside the fence but still school property. I didn't know who they were but my daughters did and shortly after recounted to me that they had seen this woman do this many times, the little boy was in my youngest daughters class. When I say beat she was using her fists to punch him and kicking him repeatedly about the body but also in the head. I found out more about them afterwards but my reaction was immediate without thought I guess because it was very alarming to see this, did I stop to think about her pressing charges against me so I better not touch her? Mind my own business it's her kid? Nope, I reacted and in front of my two daughters as well. My husband told me later that I should've minded my own business the woman lived one street down and he had seen her many times running around at 5am in her robe when he was going to work and she was a drug addict.

This woman had been reported to cps many times but mostly because of neglect and the drugs and a few times did jail time on the drugs but still seemed to escalate up to the point of the day I saw her beating her little boy unmercily, for God's sake he was a second grader in my daughters class! What I can tell you is that up until I moved from the area (9 months) Lucas (abused boy) let my daughter know that his mother never hit him again. I saw her on occasion after that day and she had a new attitude. I don't know how things ever turned out for that little boy over time but cps and LE weren't an effective deterrent at the time. The other example I had given way back about a good family friend (woman) hitting my ex with a baseball bat and then friends and such showing up for vigilante justice because LE would not help me at the time goes to show the mentality of the types that beat on women and children understand nothing but having their asses kicked. In both cases they didn't press charges because they too would looking at an arrest.
Click to expand...
What can I say . . . you made a difference in that little boy's life and that makes you a heroine! Good for you!
 
Nixzmary Brown's grandmother hopes to see her five surviving grandchildren by next week, her lawyer said yesterday.
Maria Gonzalez, 53, wants custody of the children who lived in the Brooklyn horror house where the 7-year-old died two weeks ago - allegedly after months of abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfather.

Gonzalez has not yet filed to get custody of the children but plans to soon. The father of Nixzmary's 9-year-old brother has petitioned for custody in Brooklyn Family Court, and the father of two other siblings has said he plans to seek custody of them.

The five siblings are staying with a Bronx family specially trained to shelter traumatized children.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/385234p-326938c.html

Grandmother starts process for custody of Nixzmary's siblings

Nixzmary Brown's maternal grandmother may be just days away from taking the slain 7-year-old girl's siblings to a new home, the grandmother's attorney said.

"If everything goes OK, that will happen within this week," attorney Raul Meruelo said.

Meruelo told Newsday that the children, whose ages range from 6 months to 9 years, have had a hard time since Nixzmary's Jan. 11 beating death, which prosecutors said came at the hands of her stepfather and mother. The brutal killing stunned the city and spurred massive changes in the city's child welfare system.

"Right now, we need to give those kids a break and get them back into a loving home," Meruelo said.

The grandmother, Maria Gonzalez, 53, met for nearly an hour behind closed doors with half a dozen attorneys, including several from the city Administration for Children's Services, and a court-appointed guardian for the five children.

A spokeswoman for ACS said Monday that the jailed parents also can act as respondents in family court, having a say in where the children end up.
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local...999.story?coll=nyc-homepage-breakingheadlines
 
It's called "Nixzmary's Law" and it's named after the seven-year-old New York City girl allegedly beaten to death by her stepfather.

Today Republican lawmakers in the state Senate introduced legislation that would send parents or guardians to prison for life if they cause the death of a child under the age of 14.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4404146&nav=4QcS

FOSTER-CARE 'PANIC' HITS

Child-welfare reform advocates yesterday denounced the rash of "panic placements" that have caused the number of children in foster care to soar in the city in the wake of Nixzmary Brown's tragic death.
"We're concerned about what we call a foster-care panic," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/62164.htm
 
After the brutal killing of 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo in November 1995, the politicians vowed to fix New York's broken child welfare system.
They made the same promise again yesterday, barely two weeks after the shocking murder of yet another child, 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown.

But through all their promises, they have failed to address a fiasco that has gone unresolved for nearly 10 years.

I am referring to the state's centralized child abuse information system, commonly known as Connections.

Few people outside the social work community have ever heard of the system, but Connections has quietly emerged as the biggest single boondoggle in the history of our state's child welfare agencies.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/385583p-327227c.html

Mike's massive ACS overhaul

Vowing to fix the problems that led to a 7-year-old's brutal death, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled $16 million of child welfare reforms yesterday, including hundreds of new caseworkers to better monitor abuse cases.
Bloomberg also promised an overhaul of the way city agencies interact in abuse cases, so that no child in the future will slip through the cracks the way Nixzmary Brown did.

"We are not interested in superficial change," the mayor said at a City Hall news conference. "We are determined to find out exactly where the system broke down and to marshal the resources to fix it."

The highlight of the plan calls for the Administration for Children's Services to increase its child protective staff by an eye-opening 10%, hiring 30 new managers and 575 child protective workers.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/385582p-327223c.html
 
april1 said:
The whole system is dependent on underpaid, inexperienced, workers who work within a system with few resources. When ever a general budget needs to be cut, they are often the first to be cut and recieve the largest cuts.
And the secrecy they work under, unfortunately the problems are often hidden under the same rug, by that often used phrase- we aren't permitted to discuss this due to the individual's right to privacy. Well some type of accountablity needs to be set up. Give them more money. But then watch them to make sure it is being spent on increasing services, education, and better workers!

-----

First I would like to say hello to everyone. I am new to this forum and website and have been spending to time reading threads and posts. The particualr case disturbed me deeply, reminding me of the case of Lisa who died at the hands of Hedda and Joel Steinberg. The post I have copied above makes a very good point in my opinion, however, how does one judge "better workers"? who have a better education? These people already have a Ba or MA in social work. Perhaps this is the problem. Maybe the state requirements should have the initial investigators trained in child abuse and the follow ups by social workers. That could put more people in the field because I think that is where the problem begins. Also, there is a huge problem with retaliation calls the cps. Last year I believe I read that over 80% were calls that were made to get back at neighbor, to harrass them. With workers spending time on these then it becomes apparent that the true abuse calls can slip through their fingers. Maybe something needs to be done in the system about this also. Anyway just rambling here because there are so many factors that contributed to the death of this child, but I don't believe cps should be standing with parents on trial as I read in a thread here somewhere.
Click to expand...
In New York, the majority of caseworkers have BAs, not Masters degrees. People on higher levels in ACS should have master's degrees, and I agree, they also need to do some home study, because licensed social workers have education in this area. However, it seems that caseworkers have the case soup to nuts, and either Mattingly or Bloomie has conceded that the supervisors were the ones ultimately responsible.

Ideally, a red flag should be if the parent or parents have had been abused themselves in the past, however, this question probably rarely gets asked.

Welcome to the board.
 
Welcome April1, I agree with your opinion of who is to say who is a better worker or more qualified for instance based on such things as education or experience. Isn't there an old saying the proof is in the pudding? If you take the time and look around at the many forums here it becomes very obvious that we have posters here that are extremely insightful in many ways in a variety of cases. We do have professionals here such as lawyers but a lot of the time people here are just regular joes that draw from their own life experiences and their own intellect.

What may be lacking in some of the case workers, social workers and supervisors in this particular case is a little common sense. If you look at the info in this case it was clearly documented by the school there was abuse in the house along with all the other facts that were known by the case worker who used very bad judgement imo because she could have removed the child and then continued the investigation. There was enough to substantiate that action and it's always best to err on the side of caution for the child's sake.
 
strach304 said:
Welcome April1, I agree with your opinion of who is to say who is a better worker or more qualified for instance based on such things as education or experience. Isn't there an old saying the proof is in the pudding? If you take the time and look around at the many forums here it becomes very obvious that we have posters here that are extremely insightful in many ways in a variety of cases. We do have professionals here such as lawyers but a lot of the time people here are just regular joes that draw from their own life experiences and their own intellect.

What may be lacking in some of the case workers, social workers and supervisors in this particular case is a little common sense. If you look at the info in this case it was clearly documented by the school there was abuse in the house along with all the other facts that were known by the case worker who used very bad judgement imo because she could have removed the child and then continued the investigation. There was enough to substantiate that action and it's always best to err on the side of caution for the child's sake.
Click to expand...


One of the things that really really irks me in Nixzmary's circumstance, is a supervisor-Roger Moore, I believe is his name, who lied about having credentials and wasn't held accountable. He was there over 10 years, and didn't have to cough up proof. That tells me that the higher ups didn't even care much who was working for them. So, maybe the agency isn't investing in getting the best people for the job, such as those with a little common sense.

Not to say that they're some workers who are good, but, my feeling it's not the majority. Many years back, I had a friend who was an ACS caseworker, and she was dynamite, but, she got a lot of crap from her superiors at times. She also had issues with some of the other caseworkers who she felt were less than good workers.
 
What a very sad and heartwrenching story. How anyone, especially a mother, could hurt a child and leave them to die...there is just no comprehension.

:(
 
Unfortunately. Socks, it happens all the time.Just when you are getting your sea legs and think about humanity believe that all humans will react positively you get a low blow. It just knocks you off kilter.
 
I cannot believe this stuff actually happens. I cannot understand/fathom/relate on any level. I've never seen a child with bruises or missing hair, etc... How can these parents do this to these children for SO LONG without anyone noticing? I just want to sweep this girl up and tell her how brave and strong she is. :twocents:
 
ACS shelved visit on eve of girl's slay
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/387203p-328568c.html

Records are showing that the school made multiple calls to ACS
PANEL HINTS AT COVER-UP BY NIXZMARY EMPLOYEES
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/62609.htm

ACS: Long Road To Tragedy For Nixzmary Brown
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_030181834.html

Kids who have died recently in homes known to ACS
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/w...an31,0,2147851.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
 
mysteriew said:
ACS shelved visit on eve of girl's slay
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/387203p-328568c.html

Records are showing that the school made multiple calls to ACS
PANEL HINTS AT COVER-UP BY NIXZMARY EMPLOYEES
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/62609.htm

ACS: Long Road To Tragedy For Nixzmary Brown
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_030181834.html

Kids who have died recently in homes known to ACS
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--childdeaths-glanc0131jan31,0,2147851.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
Click to expand...


You have got to be kidding me! This just makes this tragedy even more tragic, especially to know that they were supposed to visit her the night before. So many people failed this little girl.
 
This is sounding less and less like a case of no-one reporting the abuse, and more and more of a case of reported abuse not being properly investigated by the appropriate authorities. How much more effective would ACH be if they put even half the effort into helping children that they seem to put into covering up their incompetency. :banghead:
 
mysteriew said:
ACS shelved visit on eve of girl's slay
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/387203p-328568c.html

Records are showing that the school made multiple calls to ACS
PANEL HINTS AT COVER-UP BY NIXZMARY EMPLOYEES
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/62609.htm

ACS: Long Road To Tragedy For Nixzmary Brown
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_030181834.html

Kids who have died recently in homes known to ACS
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--childdeaths-glanc0131jan31,0,2147851.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
Click to expand...

:( ...so very heartbreaking.
 
Just bumping to remember...:(
 
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