Jurors in the Nixzmary Brown trial dabbed tears from their eyes as they heard for the first time directly from the stepfather accused of beating the 7-year-old to death.
Jurors passed a box of tissues around after Cesar Rodriguez’s half-hour videotaped statement was played in court.
On the tape, Rodriguez admits to beating Nixzmary with a belt and his fists, tying her to a chair in a spare room and denying her treats and sweets – but denies that he pummeled the child to death on the morning of Jan. 11, 2006.
One juror exhaled audibly with disgust when she heard Rodriguez, on the videotape, paint Nixzmary as a problem child. “She’s always lying to me,” he added.