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18 Year Old Charged with 4 Year Old's Murder
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 1, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 1, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The 18 year old boyfriend of Aleshia Smith, Jose Calderon, was charged with the murder of Smith's 4 year old son, Quachon Brown. Calderon was angry at Brown for knocking over a TV, and beat him from Friday until Sunday, when the boy died. Smith was arrested for manslaughter, as she did nothing to prevent her son's death. The abuse inflicted on Brown over the weekend is terrifying. Here's an approximate timeline of events, based on reports from the Daily News, Post, and NY Times:
- Friday: Brown knocks over TV; Calderon punched and slammed Brown (the Times writes Calderon "grabbed him by the ankles, swung him and hurled him into the wall"), and repeated this over the weekend.
- Saturday: The family goes to Chuck E. Cheese, where Brown vomits blood; Calderon beats him again
- Sunday/Monday: Brown soils the bed and Calderon tries to revive him; Calderon and Smith argue about calling 911
- Monday: Paramedics detemine Brown has been dead for hours, based on his 83 degree body temperature [NY Times]
Yesterday, the Times also had a story about neighbors helping Smith - until Calderon moved into the apartment (a quote from a friend of Calderon's backs up his story about the TV falling on the child; but police interviews with Smith's other children seem to confirm Calderon beat Brown). Further, the depressing but now unsurprising news is that the Administration for Children's Service was notified 6 times about the living conditions for Smith's six children, though they had no record of knowing Calderon was living in the home. These stories of abuse are so upsetting - can an additional $17 million really help out? As poor a job as the ACS has been doing, it must be one of the worst jobs to have, to confront these things day after day.
Photograph of Calderon from the NY Times
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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