NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A trial date still hasn't been set for the suspects in the case of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, the abused girl found dead in her New York home in January.
And when the trial against the girl's mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, and her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, will start is anyone's guess, The New York Times said Saturday. Hearings started quickly enough when they were charged with second-degree murder in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Prosecutors said Rodriguez tortured and beat the girl and that Santiago was a willing and active participant.
Defense lawyers, however, have filed numerous motions -- from sealing court records to severing the trials to hearing the cases together -- since the two were charged within a week after the girl's body was found, the Times said.
On other fronts, reaction was swift. Shortly after the girl's body was found, the child welfare agency suspended or reassigned six city workers, hundreds of children were placed in foster care, the City Council summoned the police commissioner and the mayor created and filled a new position for the protection of children.
