Two stories have emerged about what happened to 3‑month-old Alayziah Brown the night of her death.
In the one told in Superior Court in Derby Thursday afternoon, the baby died of sudden infant death syndrome, with no signs of trauma or asphyxiation.
But the one told outside of court, by the baby’s mother, involves the baby suffering severe trauma to the head after the baby’s father allegedly passed out on her the night of Sept. 10.
“When I first walked in the (bedroom) door, I didn’t know where my daughter was,” Kristi FitzGerald said Thursday, her first time talking with reporters about Alayziah’s death. “He was lying on her face … She was bleeding out of her nose, her eyes, her face. And I don’t understand how this is nothing to (the authorities).”
Rodney Lee Brown, the baby’s father, has been in jail since Sept. 11, when he was charged with one count of risk of injury to a child in connection with the death of Alayziah.
He also faces charges for two other, unrelated incidents.
Ansonia police have not said what role, if any, Brown played in the death. Police are still waiting for toxicology reports that could clarify that point.
A revised death certificate was filed in November, calling the cause of death “sudden unexplained infant death” and the manner, “undetermined.”
The certificate lists “baby sharing bed with adult” as a contributing factor in the death.
However, Brown’s public defender, Paul Eschuk, says an autopsy report provides more detail about the cause — and clarifies that Brown was not to blame for Alayziah’s death.
Eschuk used the autopsy results, which he declined to provide to the Valley Independent Sentinel, to get Brown’s bond lowered from $75,000 to $20,000 Thursday. The reports indicate that there was no trauma or asphyxiation to the baby, Eschuk said.
Paul Gaetano, a prosecutor for the state, had argued to keep the bond at $75,000 because the risk of injury charge indicates that a person willfully allowed a child to be harmed. Risk of injury is a felony that could mean up to 10 years in jail, Gaetano said.
The prosecutor wouldn’t comment on whether more charges could be filed, saying only: “At this time, he is being prosecuted for risk of injury to a child.”
Eschuk said the medical evidence clears his client.
“I argued very strongly that the medical evidence now suggests that the cause was tragic, but no one’s fault,” Eschuk said. “I don’t anticipate he will be charged with anything else.”
That’s what FitzGerald fears.
Big, Big Spot Of Blood
FitzGerald believes Brown caused Alayziah’s death because he was drunk that night, she said. FitzGerald wants to see him charged with negligent homicide, at the least.
“I don’t believe she died of SIDS,” FitzGerald said. “I say there’s no way she bled like that from SIDS.”
The night of Alayziah’s death, she went to work at a Subway sandwich shop at about 4 p.m.
She came home at about 10:30 p.m.
When she arrived at the Ansonia apartment she shared with Brown, she found the baby’s bassinet empty.
FitzGerald said she screamed at Brown once she realized he was laying on the baby.
“He didn’t move,” FitzGerald said. “He didn’t wake up until the police and EMTs came.”
FitzGerald said she called 911 and tried to perform CPR on Alayziah.
When FitzGerald looked at Browns shirt, she said “there was a big, big spot of blood” on it.
A tan comforter and a flat sheet from the apartment had blood stains on them too, according to FitzGerald’s copy of an inventory of items police seized from the apartment.
That list also included several empty bottles of beer and liquor — things FitzGerald said were not in the apartment when she left for work.
“I would never leave my daughter with someone who was drinking,” FitzGerald said.
I Did Nothing!
Brown has been locked up since September, and his side of the story has only come out in supportive messages from family members and comments from his attorney.
“Every time I see the guy, he cries,” Eschuk said Thursday. “He lost his child. I think he loved her very much, and he’s in jail. And for a while, at least, people were blaming him.”
A letter Brown wrote to FitzGerald on Sept. 20 details his feelings further.
“I been on suicide watch until this Sat. cause I felt so bad about Lay Lay,” Brown wrote, referring to Alayziah by a nickname. “But I come to relize[sic] that God knows the truth and me to[sic] Bae please belive[sic] me.”
In the letter, Brown repeatedly tells FitzGerald he loves and misses her, and says he dreams of FitzGerald and Alayziah every night.
“I promise that nothing will come back on me cause I did nothing!!!” Brown wrote. “Keep your head up Bae it’s going to be all right.”
A copy of the letter is posted below.
Waiting
It’s unclear whether Brown will be charged further in the death of Alayziah.
Eschuk doesn’t think it will happen, but police still don’t have toxicology results that determine whether he was drinking that night.
“The case is still active and open, as far as we’re concerned,” Lt. Andrew Cota of the Ansonia Police Department said. “We can’t go and re-interview this guy until we have more information — whether it’s good or bad.”
Gaetano, the prosecutor, said police are still investigating, and the prosecutors will look at any other results police come up with.
FitzGerald is frustrated with the court system. She carries a bag with photographs of Alayziah and documents detailing her short medical history.
Tidbits of information — like a definition of SIDS, the letter from Brown or police reports — are added to the file as she waits.
But FitzGerald said she has hit dead-ends everywhere she tries to get information. She is upset her side of the story has not been heard throughout the process.
FitzGerald said she will retain a lawyer so she has a chance to talk about the case in court.
“From day one I’ve been telling them I want to speak in the courtroom,” FitzGerald said.
