Cesar Rodriguez was found guilty Tuesday of second-degree manslaughter in the death of his step-daughter Nixzmary Brown.
Rodriguez, 29, fatally beat Brown, 7, as punishment for stealing a cup of yogurt and jamming his computer printer on Jan. 11, 2006. Brown was just 36 pounds when she was found dead.
On Tuesday, Rodriguez was acquitted of second-degree murder. Nixzmary’s mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, is to be tried later on murder charges.
The lower charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison; second-degree murder carries a possible life sentence.
Nixzmary lived and died in a two-bedroom apartment in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn with her mother, her stepfather and five half-siblings. Santiago had a miscarriage in late November 2005, less than a year after giving birth to her sixth child.
Santiago became depressed, and, according to many sources, blamed Nixzmary for the miscarriage. Santiago would beat Nixzmary, sometimes so badly that she needed stitches.
Rodriguez and Santiago stopped sending the children to school regularly. Rodriguez began to beat Nixzmary daily and tied her to a chair with duct tape, rope and bungee cords as punishment for her trying to harm her siblings and destroying the family’s food supplies.
On the night of Brown's death, Rodriguez said he had pounded her with his hands and shoved her head under a cold bathtub faucet. He then left her moaning on the floor as he walked to the master bedroom. Santiago allegedly ignored the whole ordeal.
Brown died due to bleeding on the brain. According to the autopsy, Brown passed through every stage of death associated with bleeding on the brain: headache, nausea, confusion, sleepiness, coma and respiratory depression.
Brown's death impacted the city's Administration for Children's Services and prompted reforms in the system.
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