A Bronx mother and her teenage son are arrested in the barbaric murder of a seven-year-old girl who was tortured, beaten, and sexually assaulted, while under their care.
Navasia Jones, 36, and her 17-year-old son Paul Fine, Jr., of Brooklyn were charged with murder and manslaughter of seven-year-old Julissia Batties, according to a NYPD spokesperson.
Julissia’s parents were in a vicious custody battle, and the little girl had lived with her grandmother.
Before her death, the helpless little girl cried and pleaded with her grandmother not to send her to her mother’s house for her court-ordered weekend visit, The New York Post reported.
On Wednesday, Jones and Fine, Jr., were taken into custody at approximately 9:30am by officers from New York City’s 40th Precinct.
Jones now faces charges of murder, manslaughter, acting in a manner injurious to a child and failure to exercise control of a minor.
Her teenage son faces charges of manslaughter, sexual abuse, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
Julissia Batties, 7, was killed by her mother and brother in the summer of 2021 in the Bronx apartment of the girl’s mother, Navasia Jones and her teenage brother, Paul Fine
The mother and son pair were taken into custody on Wednesday morning by officers from the 40th Precinct for the beating death of Julissia Batties, 7, in their Bronx apartment August 2021
The heinous crime took place on August 10, 2021, when police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious female inside the Bronx apartment located on Laverne Avenue around 8:06am.
Upon arrival, responding officers encountered EMS, who had attempted life saving care to the youngster.
Julissia’s mother told the police her daughter had fallen and hit her head on a desk around 5am, and three hours later began vomiting.
However, police saw bruising and trauma all over little Julissia’s body, officials said, The New York Times previously reported.
She was transported to NYC Health and Hospital in Lincoln where she died shortly after.
Julissia died of ‘blunt force abdominal trauma,’ and the case was ruled a homicide, according to the city’s medical examiner’s office, The New York Post previously reported.
During the investigation, Julissia’s half- brother admitted to assaulting his baby sister before she was found dead in the Bronx apartment, police sources said on Wednesday, a report said
Julissia’s mother told the police her daughter had fallen and hit her head on a desk around 5 am, and three hours later began vomiting. However, police saw bruising and trauma all over little Julissia’s body, officials said, The New York Times previously reported
A day after Julissia Batties died, a makeshift memorial for the girl was placed in the lobby of the Bronx apartment building where she lived
Yolanda Davis, Julissia’s grandmother, who had taken care of her granddaughter, waited for this moment of reckoning.
‘I’m just so happy I’m getting justice for my granddaughter,’ Davis said.
She added: ‘Oh my God, I’ve never felt so great,’ she said The New York Post reported.
Julissia’s dad Julius Batties was elated by their arrest and expressed gratitude towards the DA and the detective.
Batties said, in part: ‘I can finally start the process of healing,’ he said, The Post reported.
Fine had also confessed to punching his sister eight times in the face when their mother went to the store, police sources said, the news outlet said.
Police have been called to the apartment at the NYCHA’s Mitchel Houses on Alexander Avenue over at least six times, over the past three years, sources said, and one of those times, the mother covered for her son, a report said.
Davis said Jones has seven other children, and the city has taken taken each of her seven children away from her, at some point, a report said.
She fought along with a court-appointed attorney, but in June 2021, the city Administration for Children’s Services returned Julissia to live with her mother.
It would be without supervision, for the first time, and Julissia was killed less than two months later, the Post reported.
The girl’s father, Julius felt that ACS failed him and his daughter by giving up the child to the mother, who allegedly abused her, The New York Post previously reported.
At the time, an ACS spokesman said: ‘Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City. We are investigating this case with the NYPD,’ the report said.
An exterior photo of the Mitchel Housing projects in the Bronx where Julissia was killed
