Nixzmary Brown Stepfather Given the Maximum
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A man was sentenced to the maximum 29 years in prison yesterday in the death of his 7-year-old stepdaughter, who was bound to a chair, starved, and forced to urinate in a litter box before she was killed by a fatal blow to the head.
The judge handed down the sentence after a prosecutor said that 29-year-old Cesar Rodriguez was “devoid of all morality and inhumanity” and that he never expressed remorse for the death of Nixzmary Brown.
After Rodriguez was sentenced, someone in the courtroom shouted, “I hope you die in jail.” Another cried out, “Murderer.”
In a short statement, Rodriguez told the judge: “I loved Nixzmary. I can honestly say that I’m being accused of something I didn’t do.” His lawyer blamed Nixzmary’s mother for the girl’s death, echoing the defense that he used at the trial this year.
Rodriguez dodged a murder conviction but was convicted of the lesser manslaughter count. He received the maximum 25 years on manslaughter and four more years for additional lesser counts.
The defense said it would appeal.
