How Could You? Hall of Shame-Ukrainian Adoptive Mother Nakia Brice UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Whetstone, Arizona, 34-year-old Nakia Brice “found herself under arrest Wednesday afternoon after she took her 9-year-old son into the emergency room to be treated for head injuries that the mom said took place when the little boy, who suffers from the severe developmental disability known as Down syndrome, fell out of a tree.

The boy was placed in the intensive car unit at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. But workers with the Arizona Department if Child Services felt that something didn’t add up about Brice’s story, so they started asking her questions.

 

Suspicions were also raised when doctors found that the little boy had not only experienced severe head injuries, but also displayed several injuries in various stages of healing — injuries that had clearly been somehow inflicted at various earlier points in time.

Those other injuries included fractures to both the boy’s spine and his ribs.

According to a report in the Tucson Sentinel, Brice adopted the boy from an orphanage in Ukraine three years ago. The newspaper reported gathering that information from Brice’s social media accounts.

Brice, who has two other children ages two and eight, on her Facebook page also shows what appears to be a strong interest in issues affecting children. She includes a link to National Attachment Trauma Awareness Day, a disorder which the group’s page describes as “a serious disruption of a child’s ability to form strong and healthy bonds with care providers.”

Brice also posted a “meme” photo with text reading, “Brain Facts: Violent Homes Have The Same Effect Oh Children’s Brains As Combat On Soldiers.”

Another post about wheelchair parks where disabled children can play safely is accompanied by Brice’s own comment, “would love to see these in every town.”

The posts appear inconsistent with the story that Brice eventually told investigators about her son’s injuries — when she confessed that she struck the boy with a baseball bat.

“She struck the boy multiple times with the bat in the head and body,” said Cochise County Sheriff’s Spokesperson Carol Capas.

But Brice said that she hit the boy with the bat — a weapon investigators later found when they served a search warrant on her home — because she “lost control defending herself” when the boy was acting out, screaming, kicking, scratching, and biting her.

Brice admitted to detectives that she hit the 9-year-old repeatedly on the head and body with the baseball bat. The boy himself cannot speak to investigators due both to his Down syndrome and his head injuries.

Detectives are still investigating the case. At a court appearance Thursday, Nakia Brice was ordered held on $200,000 bond.”

 

Nakia Brice: Mom Claimed Self Defense When She Hit 9-Year-Old Son With Baseball Bat, Cops Say
[ Inquistr 7/2/15]

“The mother of a nine-year-old boy hospitalized with head trauma has been arrested on assault and abuse charges after telling investigators she struck the boy with a baseball bat, authorities said. The boy has Down Syndrome and is unable to speak, a Cochise County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said.

The woman, 34-year-old Nakia Brice, was arrested Wednesday and charged with four counts of aggravated assault and one count of child abuse and booked into the Cochise County Jail, said CCSO’s Carol Capas.

Brice told authorities that she “lost control defending herself” with the bat when the boy was “acting out” by kicking, biting and scratching, Capas said.

The Sheriff’s Office was contacted about the case Monday by staffers with the Arizona Department of Child Safety, Capas said, after the boy was taken to Banner University Medical Center in Tucson.

“An initial hospital report stated that the mother said the boy had fallen from a tree causing head injuries,” Capas said in a news release.

The boy was in intensive care “being treated for severe head trauma and there were indications of past fractures in the rib and spine that were in various stages of healing,” Capas said AZDCS told sheriff’s investigators.

The boy, who is diagnosed with Down Syndrome and unable to speak, lives at a residence in Whetstone, north of Sierra Vista, with his mother and two other siblings, aged eight and two, Capas said.

“Because of the boy’s inability to speak and the head trauma, detectives were not able to communicate with him for an interview,” she said.

Brice’s social media posts indicate that she adopted the boy from a Ukrainian orphanage in 2012.

The mother told investigators that “she struck the boy multiple times with the bat in the head and body,” Capas said.

While searching the home, detectives found the baseball bat reportedly used in the incident, Capas said. CCSO is continuing to investigate the incident, she said.”

Sheriff: Whetstone mother beat 9-year-old disabled boy with baseball bat[Tucson Sentinel 7/2/15 by Dylan Smith]

“She is scheduled to appear in court on July 13.”

Cops: Mom beats disabled son with baseball bat[HLNTV 7/7/15 by Cortney Peltz]

A Search on Nakia Brice in the Arizona Court records shows that she has the following counts:

“3 AGGRAVATED ASLT-DEADLY WEAPON/DANG INST
4 AGGRAVATED ASSAULT – SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY
5 AGGRAVATED ASSAULT – SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY
6 AGGRAVATED ASSAULT-ADULT ON MINOR
7 AGG ASLT-DISFIGUREMENT/LOSS/IMPAIR/ORGAN
8 AGG ASLT-DISFIGUREMENT/LOSS/IMPAIR/ORGAN
9 CHILD/VULNERABLE ADULT ABUSE”

On 7/14/15 ,there was a  “BOND: Posted (Surety) for the amount of $200000.00”

She will appear again in court  on7/27/15.

She also is divorcing her husband , Joshua, Filing date on 6/14.

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: A search of Arizona Records shows that on 10/19/15 she had a pre-trial conference.

Update 2:A search of Arizona Records shows that on 3/2/16 she was found guilty on “AGGRAVATED ASSAULT – SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY” where all other charges were”COURT DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE”.  On 3/2/16 , she received probation of 7 years.