Carlotta Brett-Pierce, Charged In 4-Year-Old's Starving, Drugging, Beating Denies Harming Her

Carlotta Brett-Pierce allegedly starved, beat and drugged her 4-year-old daughter.

NEW YORK -- A Brooklyn mother accused of starving, drugging and beating her 4-year-old daughter to death says she never harmed the child.

Carlotta Brett-Pierce acknowledged at her trial Monday that the girl "had lost weight," but said she "didn't look bad."

Brett-Pierce and her mother, Loretta Brett, are charged with murder in the death of Marchella (mar-CHELL'-uh) in September of 2010. She weighed half what a child her age should, and had bruises and cuts on her body.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty and say they were doing the best they could.

The outcome of the murder trial may have repercussions for the child welfare workers once assigned to the family. They were charged with criminally negligent homicide and have also pleaded not guilty.

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Comments

[Moonshi14]

12:40 PM on 05/09/2012

You could just copy and paste from what i said in another article. A lot of these stories follow the same outline. When will these women learn.

[kathy smelser]

08:57 AM on 05/09/2012

what do they mean ..doing the best they could ? ....if they are found guilty they should suffer the way that child suffered ....and make sure that they never have children again

[Coneja]

12:23 AM on 05/09/2012

That poor baby didn't have a chance. If mom is crazy then grandma should come to the rescue or vice versa but in this case little Marchella was the victim of two crazies. No one there to save her. Pox on those two. I hope the rest of their lives are miserable.

[dogsrock]

12:15 AM on 05/09/2012

So the best they could do is....... She weighed half what a child her age should, and had bruises and cuts on her body. She was tortured to death starved and beaten. Her abusers should get the same fate only in public an example should be made out of them to show what happens to child tortures and killers

[Over the BS]

04:42 AM on 05/09/2012

Well come on....I mean...she made sure her hair was all done and she was rockin some gold jewelry. After making sure she was all "beautiful" Im sure she really did try her best and did the best she could. I really do. Thats the type of juror this POS should pray is in that jury box...dumb enough to believe her bs story.
Im with you....she should suffer the same torture her 4 year old, 4 YEARS OLD! daughter endured throughout her tragic and short life. she deserves all that and more. She was her MOTHER....the one person in this world who is supposed to love and care for you and protect you from harm - not inflict it herself.

[Over the BS]

10:47 AM on 05/10/2012

Justice was served....the "mother" was found guilty. Reading this more detailed article about the trial enraged me to a whole new level.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/prosecutor-describes-brooklyn-mom-trial-4-year-old-starvation-death-heartless-article-1.1075182

[ToughCupcake]

09:16 PM on 05/08/2012

"say they were doing the best they could."

NOT ACCEPTABLE...NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!

The outcome of the murder trial may have repercussions for the child welfare workers once assigned to the family. They were charged with criminally negligent homicide and have also pleaded not guilty"

THEY ARE EVEN MORE RESPONSIBLE....THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER
I rarely cap and sorry if I offend but this...this is a baby...an innocent child...

[Over the BS]

04:49 AM on 05/09/2012

I agree they had an obligation to make sure she was safe, and what they did by falsifying records is terrible, the ACS system in NY is so broken and way underfunded that you have 75-100 kids assigned to one worker who just cant handle it all. That plus trying to get the police to escort you to a child removal situation as a precaution ensures you spend hours fighting through red tape as well as a mountain of paperwork. Again, not condoning their actions but its impossible to give every single one of your cases 150%. The fact that the mayor feels millions of dollars are better spent on bike lanes, creating street plazas, revamping parks already in good condition with the hopes of luring more tourists is more important than adding more social workers to make sure this doesnt happen again - that babies are PROTECTED is more important. A few years ago in NY, there was a little girl, Nixzmary Brown who was BRUTALIZED by her stepfather and mother under the same mayors watch....apparently one dead child wasnt enough of a wake up call.

[loveis22984]

09:10 PM on 05/08/2012

I have a special needs child and I don't consider raising her to be significantly harder then raising my other children. There are times when sudden weight loss happens because she won't stop vomiting. I am not stressed over her vomiting, but stressed over the doctors line of questioning regarding her weight loss. If I did not have a special needs child it would be so much easier for me to judge this woman. The drugging and slapping the child is just wrong however, I have no idea what that is about.

[GracieGiraffe]

09:37 PM on 05/08/2012

This is vastly different from your situation. You might want to try a different doctor who is willing to work with you rather than question you.

This child had bruises, etc - and it is safe to assume her weight loss was due to food deprivation rather than a medical condition.

[loveis22984]

09:48 PM on 05/08/2012

I don't see how the 2 situations are different. I can tell you that because she baby had a feeding tube, she was prone to losing weight, that is why she had the feeding tube placed. Most people with feeding tubes will lose weight from time to time, and the mother claimed the child fell out the bed frequently, is it that hard to come to the conclusion she got the bruises that way? I am just getting the details of this story and the more I find out the more I realize the people who are condemning her have no idea what happens when you raise a special needs child. The child's lung problem might have also played a role in the child's low weight and probably death. Drugging the child however is a big no no.

[GracieGiraffe]

09:40 PM on 05/08/2012

OK, someone else farther down mentioned she had special needs. I hope justice is done, whatever it is here.

[ipleathe5thh]

08:12 PM on 05/08/2012

My wife cousin admitted to us one time that she would give her daughter Benerdryal to make her go to sleep & if she didn't like what she made she'd spank her red & would let the girl go without any food for 24-48 hours at a time we though she was kidding. So when she pulled that stunt when we were there one day we picked the girl up & took her to the hospital & also with me being a Police Officer. The Doctor & I made sure she never got her back. Now she's in jail & the girl now lives with us & couldn't be in a happier safer place

[Sara Lira]

08:36 PM on 05/08/2012

Amazing. Most people wouldn't turn in their relatives for the "family's sake". I'm glad the child is safe now.

[kathy smelser]

09:07 AM on 05/09/2012

you are a hero ....there needs to be a lot more good people like you ...God bless you

[Mother Teresa Ann]

08:04 PM on 05/08/2012

Here is a picture of the child :*( what a sad little thing she was. the mother was a drug addict, and tortured this child to death. I hope she suffers the same. http://www.thegrio.com/assets_c/2012/05/Marchella_Pierce-thumb-400xauto-35244.jpg

[Judy75201]

09:22 PM on 05/08/2012

Heartbreaking.

[loveis22984]

10:28 PM on 05/08/2012

What is heartbreaking? the fact you are looking at a child that is no longer with us, or the way the child looks in the picture?

[Mother Teresa Ann]

07:58 PM on 05/08/2012

here is the bigger story http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/child-care-advocates-rip-administration-children-services-death-18-pound-girl-article-1.439934

[whoknew222]

08:52 PM on 05/08/2012

Thanks. That is a much more informative article.
"Brett-Pierce's lawyer, George Sheinberg, said, "I don't think anybody ever followed up" after CDSC left in June. "She was a very overwhelmed young woman."
Overwhelmed or not this woman should have given the child up and Chidren's Services should have done their job knowing that the mother was on drugs. Obviously the child was sick at birth and they knew that. They confirmed the matter in June when she tested positive for drugs after giving birth to a boy. smh

[kathy smelser]

09:13 AM on 05/09/2012

she is a known druggy ....abuses one child ...all to get pregnant and deliver a drug baby ...all of this under the eyes of the social workers ....but yet some folks think that abortion is wrong ...this is worse

[Kevin Rayburn]

01:59 AM on 05/09/2012

thank you for posting a more in depth version of this story, sadly more and more special needs children are falling through the cracks of the government's safety nets and there seems to be little hope of the citizens of this country forcing those of "power" (i am using that term very lightly) to seal these cracks and start doing the job they are receiving taxpayer funds to perform.

[Hannah Knise]

07:49 PM on 05/08/2012

You can tell by the picture that mom has that "cracked out" swagger. Kinda sad that social workers saw NOTHING wrong with that.

[Kauleienia Whitlock]

08:42 PM on 05/08/2012

Seriously?? You sound so ignorant!! You can't judge a person JUST on what they look like. BUT social workers should have DEFINITELY figured out there was something wrong.. if not on their initial visit, but any thereafter!

[Francois G]

08:39 AM on 05/09/2012

Well... the pic seems to be speaking for itself though...

[papapj]

09:00 PM on 05/08/2012

Takes on to know one....

[madgram]

07:15 PM on 05/08/2012

You have to google this to find out the whole story. This child had a feeding tube and was a special needs child. Both mom and grandma will rot.

[GracieGiraffe]

09:39 PM on 05/08/2012

Oh! Thanks for the info - I should learn never to comment based upon what I read HERE.

[blessed4eva]

06:51 PM on 05/08/2012

this is so sick now i dont agree with what the mother did to her child but these are the type of things we need to blame on the government if they paid more attention to the people then things like this wouldnt happen or what about the doctors for tht child where were they through all this

[kathy smelser]

09:17 AM on 05/09/2012

there is a list of people who are guilty in this death ....

[Lisa1129]

06:40 PM on 05/08/2012

She should have her uterus ripped out of her body.

[CRink]

07:18 PM on 05/08/2012

That's really an excellent idea. Any mother who could abuse her child to dealth should not be able to have any.

[kathy smelser]

09:18 AM on 05/09/2012

before she had the second baby born on drugs

[eld3901]

06:27 PM on 05/08/2012

She probably had just strapped her daughter to her bed when she stopped to style and profile for that pic.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

05:45 PM on 05/08/2012

That poor baby. If you don't want your kid or can't take care of it (and for some stupid reason, did not have an abortion when you first got pregnant - while they're accessible, that is), give it up for adoption. There are so many people who would have loved and nurtured that little girl.