Three More Indicted Today in the Death of Baby Marchella Brett-Pierce

When police found the dead body of 4-year-old Marchella Brett-Pierce in her mother’s messy Bed-Stuy apartment on Madison Street last September, she was covered in bruises and weighed only 18 pounds.

Further examination found that she was malnourished and dehydrated, with blunt impact injuries and acute drug poisoning.

The medical examiner ultimately determined that the cause of Marchella’s death was Battered Child Syndrome, and her mother, Carlotta Brett-Pierce, was indicted in November on a top count of second-degree murder.

Today, Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes announced the indictment of three more people in Marchella’s death: Two former Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) employees, Damon Adams and Chereece Bell, and Marchella’s grandmother, Loretta Brett, all of whom now face homicide charges.

“There’s an Italian word, ‘basta.’ It means ‘enough,’” said Hynes, about his decision to pursue the ACS workers – the first time in New York City’s history ACS workers have been charged with a crime.

District Attorney Hynes announced the empanelling of a special Investigative Grand Jury to probe alleged systemic failures at ACS, which may have played a role in the deaths of Marchella and other children in ACS’s care, including the tragic death of Nixmary Brown in 2006.

“I said at the time we announced the indictment of Marchella’s mother that this was not going to be an investigation that was going away. We are going to find out at long last what they’re doing at ACS to make sure there are no more child fatalities.”

Marchella Brett-Pierce was born in 2006. She lived most of her short life in pediatric care due to undersized lungs resulting from her premature birth. She had only recently began living at home with her mother in February 2010.

When Marchella returned home, she was monitored by ACS and the private contract agency, Child Development Support Corporation. Yet, despite being monitored by two separate agencies, the D.A.’s office alleged in a previous indictment, Carlotta  routinely abused the child and eventually caused her death.

Today’s indictments charge Adams with falsifying ACS computer records, by dating an entry after baby Marchella’s death to make it appear as though he had visited the Brett-Pierce family, when he had not.

Bell, Adams’s supervisor is charged with neglecting to properly oversee and monitor Adams’s work with the Brett-Pierce family. The indictment charges that both Adams’s and Bell’s failures were factors that contributed to Marchella’s death.

Adams and Bell both are charged with criminally negligent homicide, official misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child. Additional charges against Adams included tampering with public records in the first degree and falsifying business records in the first degree.

The indictment against Loretta Brett charges that she witnessed Marchella bound and tied to a toddler bed in Loretta Brett’s bedroom most days, where she also slept.

Loretta has been indicted on charges including manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide, unlawful imprisonment in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child.

“Baby Marchella might be alive today, had these ACS workers attended to her case with the basic levels of care it deserved, or had her grandmother stepped in and put a stop to the shocking abuse she is charged with facilitating,” said Hynes.

Both Adams and Bell resigned from their positions in October. All three, including Loretta Brett, were arrested yesterday.

If convicted, Chereece Bell could face up to four years in prison; Damon Adams, up to seven years; Loretta Brett, up to 15 years; and Carlotta Brett-Pierce could face up to 25 years to life in prison.