NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The mother and 18-year-old brother of 7-year-old Julissia Batties have been arrested for the Bronx girl's brutal beating death last August, police said.
Navasia Jones, 36, and Paul Fine, Jr. were arrested on Wednesday morning and charged with murder, manslaughter, and acting in a manner injurious to a child. Jones is also charged with failure to exercise control of a minor, while Fine Jr. is additionally charged with sexual abuse and assault.
According to police, Julissia was found unconscious inside an apartment in NYCHA's Mitchel Houses in Mott Haven on the morning of Aug. 10, 2021, and according to the New York Post, had evidence of trauma all over her body. She was later pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital.
"Mom and brother are both culpable," a high-ranking police source told the Post. "They both had a role in it, but who delivered the fatal blow is not clear."
Jones originally told police after the 7-year-old's death that she fell and hit her head on a desk, but sources told the outlet that Fine Jr. admitted to assaulting his sister before she was found dead in the apartment.
Fine Jr. allegedly admitted during questioning that he had punched his sister eight times in the face when their mother went to the store around 5 a.m., the sources said.
Julissia started throwing up hours after the beating and passed out, prompting her mother to call 911, according to the report.
Her death was ruled a homicide with "blunt force abdominal trauma" as her cause of death, according to the city medical examiner's office.
The sources said that over the previous three years, police were called to the Alexander Avenue apartment six times, and on at least one of those occasions, the mother covered for the teen. The last call came in March 2020.
In audio recording obtained by the outlet, Julissia hysterically cried and begged her grandmother and foster parent, Yolanda Davis, not to send her for a court-ordered weekend visit with her mom.
However, Julissia was sent to her mother, who lost custody of her and four sons due to alleged negligence and physical abuse.
According to the report, Julissia was given permission by the city Administration for Children's Services last June 21 to live with her mother for the first time unsupervised, despite opposition from Davis and a court-appointed attorney.
She died less than two months later.
Davis praised Wednesday's arrest, telling the Post she "has never been so happy."
"I'm just so happy I'm getting justice for my granddaughter," she said. "Oh my God, I've never felt so great."
