By Tom Tracy
The New York State Senate last week overwhelming approved Nixzmary’s Law, which mandates that parents or guardians convicted of murdering their children will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. The legislation, named after Nixzmary Brown, a plucky seven-year-old Brooklyn girl who was brutally beaten to death by step-father, and left to die by her mother. Both have since been indicted on murder charges. “Nixzmary’s Law,” which would require a sentence of life without parole for parents or guardians who kill a child. The legislation was sponsored by the Senate Majority Conference, which includes State Senator Marty Golden. Over in Queens, Assemblymember Nettie Mayersohn has already sponsored the Assembly’s version of Nixzmary’s Law, which is currently being mulled over by the Codes Committee. “The tragic death of Nixzmary Brown highlights the need to ensure that the villains who commit these most heinous crimes against our children face nothing less than life without parole,” said Golden. “There is no place in society for individuals who have no value for human life, and so, we must act quickly and enact this legislation that will serve as both a deterrent and as fair punishment.” The Senate’s quick action was hailed by Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes, who had called on Albany to change the existing law since it did not mandate a life without parole sentence against the alleged killers of Nixzmary Brown because no felony sex crime was involved. If convicted, Nixzmary’s killers could be released from prison after 15 years. Hynes said that the Senate has taken “a strong stand against those offenders – parents, guardians and other persons entrusted with the care and welfare of a child – who betray that trust and murder these vulnerable victims.” “Offenders who cruelly inflict pain, abuse, and ultimately death on those children whom they were supposed to protect are not fit to ever re-enter society,” Hynes said. “These child-killers deserve life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.”
