Justice for Nixzmary Brown in Brooklyn
Tonight in Brooklyn, justice was served. Nixzmary Brown’s mother, Nixzaliz Santiago,was found guilty. I am crying (see tonight I have some tears). These are tears of relief as I remember years ago, Hedda Nussbaum served no time in jail as she claimed Joel Steinberg abused and killed their six year old adopted daughter, Lisa Steinberg. Although,Nixzaliz didn’t get charged with murder, she did get charged with manslaughter.
Sammy Sanchez, Nixzaliz’s attorney said, “She did not do the same as Cesar. An angel, Nixzmary Brown, died and that was a tragedy and we feel terrible for all of the family. But Cesar was the true criminal.” Sammy Sanchez must have had a hard time defending Nixzaliz. For me, a mother who allows her child to be continuously beaten and sexually abused deserves more than life in prison.
On November 5th, Nixzaliz could be sentenced up to 33 years. I’m just relieved that Nixzaliz wasn’t able to get off for letting her daughter suffer for so many years.
Nixzmary’s Soldiers are a group of mothers who have rallied together to protect the rights of children and help end child abuse in NYC. On Sunday, October 19th, they will be having a rally in Central Park from 11 – 4 pm and invite everyone to come and take a stand against child abuse. Even Mayor Bloomberg is going to make an appearance at the rally. For more information click here.
** Another problem in the area of child abuse in NYC is that teachers MUST report the child abuse AND the teacher’s name is then included in the report and the suspected child abuser has the teacher’s name. As a mandated reporter, the teacher’s identity should not be in the report or shared with parents. Of course this wouldn’t hold me back from reporting abuse, but I am sure many teachers don’t want to be put in an uncomfortable situation with parents knowing that they reported them. Laws must be changed to help children.
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Brooklyn | No Comments »