The Misery Machine - The Case of JaQuinn Brewton

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to discuss the tragic case of JaQuinn Brewton - an adorable toddler who went to stay with his godmother, Nadera Batson, and her boyfriend after his mother became homeless. But what was supposed to be a safe situation for little JaQuinn turned deadly after Nadera began beating him for hours, scalding his feet with hot water, and burning his backside with a kitchen blowtorch. Many people potentially heard what was going on inside of the apartment, but no one actually did anything to stop it. Support Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachinePayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachineJoin Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1Instagram: miserymachinepodcastTwitter: misery_podcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM#themiserymachine #podcast #truecrimeSource Material:https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S19004-15m.pdf?cb=2 https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S04010-22m%20-%20105078643165445109.pdf?cb=1https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20131219_Tot_s_killer_sentenced_to_28_1_2_to_57_years_for_brutal_abuse.htmlhttps://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/funeral-services-held-for-3-year-old-victim-of-alleged-abuse/https://disability-memorial.org/jaquinn-brewtonhttps://mugshots.com/US-States/Pennsylvania/Philadelphia-County-PA/Nadera-Batson.70587166.htmlhttps://www.facebook.com/iminlovewithpermworm

Jaquin Bruton was born on April 8, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to mother Ashley Bruton. He had brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a bright smile. Ashley was a single mother of a family consisting of a few other biological children she was caring for at the time, though no information was found about them or Jaquin's biological father who remain out of the family's life. Jaquin enjoyed playing games and spending time with his numerous siblings and cousins. He'd like to play keepaway, grabbing the hats from the heads of his playmates. He also enjoyed being rocked to sleep and taking naps in the arms of his mother. Jaquin was reported to have a learning disability consisting of a speech delay

with a limited vocabulary of approximately 10 to 30 words. His speech difficulties had him calling everyone mom. This included the people who would later hurt him. Ashley had asked Naderabatson, a close friend whom she had given the title of God, mother to care for her son in early March of 2011. Ashley was experiencing financial difficulty and had become homeless, and she felt that Jaquin would be better suited in her friend's care than with his mother and his older siblings in a crowded, homeless shelter. But the decision to leave Jaquin with Naderra was a nightmare

which the family would never forget. Nader and her boyfriend Marcus King started dating in December of 2009 and moved in together shortly after. Marcus had been introduced to Jaquin's mother during this time. The couple had even lived with Ashley and her children before getting a place of their own in January of 2011. At the time of our story, Jaquin was in Naderra and Marcus's care and had been living with them beginning in March of 2011. The couple had a home on the 4,700 block of Chestnut Street, a major historic street running east to west from the Delaware River waterfront. Meanwhile, Ashley and Jaquins' other siblings moved into the shelter. In the short time, Jaquin had been away from his mother,

conflict had begun to brew between mother and godmother who fought over Naderas wish to gain legal custody of Jaquin. Details of the argument over custody don't appear to be publicly available, and there was no mention of its outcome in court documents, aside from the word attempted. Ashley had last spoken to her son in May of 2011. I wouldn't see him again until June of the same year, but by that time, Jaquin would be in a hospital bed. On June 29th, 2011, at approximately 11 a.m., Lieutenant Dwayne Culbrath of the Philadelphia Fire Department responded to a call claiming that a child had fallen down a flight of stairs at 4716 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. When Lieutenant Colbrath arrived, he made his way up to the fourth floor of the apartment building,

where he found three-year-old Jaquin in a filthy bedroom. He was dressed only in a diaper and had no vital signs and appeared to be deceased. A battered and bruised Jaquin was taken to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was able to be revived. In less than four months in the care of his so-called godmother and her boyfriend, Jaquine fell into a coma and was put on life support, suffering from severe internal injuries, as well as serious burns in various stages of healing. Jaquine Bruton never woke up from his coma and died as the result of his injuries on July 12, 2011. He was only three years old. When Lieutenant Culbreth spoke to Naderah on the scene,

she claimed to have seen Jaquin tumble down the stairs, stand up, and then slump against the wall before falling unconscious. Lieutenant Culbroth noticed that Jaquin had multiple dark markings on his torso and arms, consistent with bruises that were more than a few hours old. The lieutenant immediately became suspicious that the injuries were not accidental as Nadera had claims. Philadelphia police officer Tamika Terry of the special. Victims Unit interviewed Naderra on June 29, 2011. Nader repeated the story that she had told Lieutenant Culbroth.

Jaquin had injured himself by falling down a flight of stairs and added that he had accidentally burned his feet by stepping into a hot bath. Upon further examination at the hospital, it was discovered that Jaquin had several high-degree burns on his butt as well as his feet. They would later be discovered to have been inflicted by a kitchen blow torch. Now, Marcus confessed that the torch was. belonged to him, but that Nadar had inflicted the wounds. The reason? Punishment. Trauma nurse practitioner Christine Biggie noted multiple bruises, cuts, and marks all over the

toddler, some of which looked like he was missing parts of his skin. She also took detailed photographs of his numerous wounds, noting that some were at various stages of healing. Jaquin was very thin, but his tummy was swollen and distended. According to court documents, nurse biggie observed a burn on Jaquin Bruton's buttocks and by its state of healing estimated that it was a week old. The burn did not appear to be from a hot object, which would leave a defined shape or imprint or a hot liquid, which would leave splash marks that would appear as dots around the greater area of the burn. Nurse Biggie determined it was likely caused by exposure to flame. On both of Jaquin's feet, she observed healed second-degree burns caused by a hot liquid,

with splash marks around the periphery of the burn area and on his lower legs. The tops of his feet were burned, but the bottoms were uninjured. This is consistent not with stepping into a hot tub, as the defendant reported, but with a spilled hot liquid. There was some evidence to suggest that a liquid scalding was involved in some of the more minor burns, but the pattern of markings were inconsistent with stepping into a hot bath, as Naderas suggested. With regard to his abdominal swelling, the likely culprit was blunt force trauma. These internal injuries occurred at different times, probably a few days apart and were inconsistent with injuries from the fall downstairs. Jaquin did not have many of the injuries that would normally accompany such a fall, whereas his internal injuries were far more consistent with a concentrated blow to his stomach,

such as from a punch by an adult or being struck by a hard object. More on that in a moment. Now when Nurse Biggie asked Naderra about the injuries to Jaquin's feet, she claimed that Jaquin had been taken to another local hospital for treatment of of the burns and that he had burned his butt by sitting on a hot blow torch. Nurse Biggie asked if she meant a lighter, but Naderra again insisted that it was a blow torch. Naderer also told Nurse Biggie that Jaquin had thrown up green vomit the week prior. The nurse noted that this was consistent with a serious pancreatic injury, which can cause bile to show up in the injured person's vomit.

Naderer also said that Jaquint didn't have much of an appetite in the preceding weeks, which is also consistent with a pancreatic injury. According to Dr. Aaron Rosen, the associate medical examiner for the city of Philadelphia, pancreatic injuries, such as the one Jaquin Bruton suffered, can cause damage to the other abdominal organs when pancreatic fluids leak into the abdomen and can also cause hypotension and cardiocirculatory impairment, which can rob other organs such as the brain of necessary blood-borne oxygen. In response, the brain vasodilates calling for more blood but becomes swollen with blood that is deoxygenated. This accounted for Jaquine's brain swelling.

at the time of his death. Dr. Rosen observed scarring on Jaquin's legs and left arm that were consistent with the metal tines of a comb that was recovered from Naderas apartment. He did not see any scars on Jaquin's body that were consistent with an immersion burn, as when a child steps into or is placed into too hot bathwater. Instead, the burn scars on the top of the boy's feet were consistent with the pouring of scalding liquid to the tops of his feet. Dr. Rosen also reviewed the hospital X-ray results that had been taken during his stay in the hospital. These x-rays indicated a potential fracture in Jaquin's lower left arm. The healing fracture was one of the few findings that was actually consistent with the Dara's

version of events, as Jaquin could have sustained the injury from reaching out to stop and fall. According to Dr. Rosen, many of Jaquins' internal organs, however, including his pancreas, left adrenal gland, and liver showed fibrosis, consistent with a rupture to the pancreas that causes enzymes to escape into the abdominal cavity and irritate the organs in that cavity. Dr. Rosen noted that the injury to Jaquin's pancreas was not consistent with a fall down the stairs. Instead, it was more consistent with a blow to the stomach, as we previously mentioned. He said, because the pancreas is in the middle of the body, it is not typically injured in this directed way when a person falls down the stairs.

Stair falls tend to cause injuries to the head and extremities of the body, like the arm fracture, rather than the middle. In the end, Dr. Rosen classified Jaquins'in's cause of death as blunt impact trauma. his manner of death was ruled a homicide. On July 14th, Philadelphia detective Ronald Siriani tested the hot water temperature in the apartment's bathroom. He found that when he ran the sink's hot water for 15 to 20 seconds, the water temperature was 132 degrees Fahrenheit. This was not hot enough to burn his hand when he submerged it.

He also tested the water in the bathtub, which was only 109 degrees. Naderah claimed that Jaquin scalded himself from the apartment's water temperature, but the evidence showed this just wasn't possible. Now, what makes the story even more tragic is that there was a neighbor that knew something terribly wrong was going on. Though he was too late to save Jaquin, he did testify on the boy's behalf. Naderra and Marcus's neighbor, Hassan Bob, testified that the building had a shared bathroom and kitchen and that he resided in the room next door to them. According to the neighbor, on several occasions, he had heard Nadera verbally taunting Jaquin in referring to him as little motherfucker as well as a racial slur. In the weeks

before Jaquin's death, Hassan could hear loud music coming from Naderra's room. He also heard what sounded like lashes, screams, and tears. He claimed to have also have heard Naderas say, move your hands as well as stop crying, shut up, and sit still. This would happen around four times a week and lasted for about an hour each time. According to court documents, At one point, Hassan's girlfriend was with him in his room during one of the midday episodes of loud music, screaming, crying, and the sound of lashes, and she was upset by it. At her behest, Hassan went to Naderra's room and knocked on the door. When Naderer answered, he commented that it had been going on for a while, and she responded that she would turn the music off. That seemed to end that particular incident.

On another similar occasion, Hassan's door had been ajar, and he saw Nader and Jaquin walking to the communal back. bathroom and heard Naderes say on her cell phone, this little motherfucker shit the bed. Hassan was troubled by what he heard, and he had then looked at the Department of Human Services website to learn how to make an anonymous tip about what he suspected was CA. He had also sent a text message to his landlord in hopes that he might be able to intervene and end the beatings. No information was found on whether or not Hassan actually made an anonymous report to DHS. court documents also do not elaborate on this aspect of Hassan's testimony. Hassan went on to say,

I ain't trying to get involved in other people's matters. But this woman beats her kid nonstop for hours. It just doesn't seem healthy to me. It would seem no such interventions were made following the phone call to the landlord. DHS had not gotten involved or conducted an investigation into these claims as far as can be researched. Hassan was the only. building resident to come forward with any concern in any official capacity. Considering the apartment building had shared common areas, it seems reasonable to assume

Hassan was not the only resident who have heard the screams or witnessed something alarming. Naderra and Marcus were arrested on July 15, 2011 for the murder of Jaquin Bruton. In addition, the couple also faced charges of conspiracy, endangering the welfare of a child and possession of an instrument of crime. Marcus pled guilty to third-degree murder charges and testified against Naderer in the trial, saying that he rarely struck Jaquin, but that Naderra did every day that the boy was in their care. Marcus testified that Naderer would hit Jaquin with her hands, but at other time she would strike him with objects such as a belt, brush her shoe. Marcus said the reason that his girlfriend would hit

Jaquin was because he often touched something that she felt he was not supposed to touch, or when he had accidents because he was not potty trained. Naderer would also tell Jaquin to keep his hands down to stop him from protecting himself so she could better hit him. Sometimes Marcus intervened to stop the beatings, but just ones which he believed were too excessive. Marcus had noticed burns on Jaquin's feet and had purchased burn cream and gauze to treat him. These were burns that Naderra had inflicted on Jaquin's feet for doing what kids often do, getting out of bed at night. Burning him was a punishment intended to be used as negative reinforcement by making it

painful for the boy to even walk, let alone get up from his bed. This is a three-year-old boy. Marcus and Naderra had at some point discussed taking Jaquin to the hospital for his burns, but they were afraid that if they did so, they would be arrested. Marcus would also go on to talk about a time when Jaquin missed his toilet trainer and defecated onto the floor, and as a result, Nadera burned his butt with the blowtorch that Marcus had brought home from his job in a kitchen. Marcus stated that he had grabbed Jaquin away from Nader and took him into the bathroom, running cold water over his wounds in an attempt to soothe the burn. However, when he did so, layers of skin fell off into the flow of the water.

Marcus had dressed his wound with burn cream and gauze, but still did not take him to the doctor or report the incident to any kind of authority. The night before Jaquin was taken to the children's hospital, Marcus stated that Jaquin had trouble getting to sleep and kept getting out of his bed, likely due to the burns on his body. Now, despite the boy being in clear, obvious pain, Naderra again beat him into submission. The trial took place in August of 2013 with Judge Barbara A. McDermott presiding. When it was time for Naderra to speak, Jaquin's family and the people in the courtroom were hoping for an apology or an admission of guilt, but no such statement would be offered.

Instead, she said, I'm not the best person in the world, but I truly loved him too. He was my godson. I took care of him. I just wish he was here. The court was not moved by her words. The judge had this to say in response. This is the third worst case of CA I've ever seen in almost 30 years.

One incident, it's an accident. But the blow torch to the child's buttocks, the burns on his feet, his body, clearly beyond any doubt, showed that this was a pattern of C.E. The judge returned a verdict of guilty for both Naderra and Marcus. Nader was sentenced to 24 to 48 years in prison, while Marcus was given a lighter sentence of 10 to 20 years for his involvement in Jaquin's death.

The court imposed the sentence on December 18, 2013. Unable to accept her punishment, Naderer would go on to appeal her sentence multiple times. Initial appeals were based on Nadera asking the following. If she was entitled to an arrest of judgment on the charge, charge of murder in the third degree and or the charge of criminal conspiracy where she felt the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict. If she was entitled to a new trial on all charges where she felt the verdict was against the weight of the evidence presented against her, and Dara believed there was not enough evidence to support an indication of malice as her

active role in the crime. And was she entitled to a new trial as the result of what she believed was a court error when the court failed to grant a mistrial in the face of what she felt was blatant prosecutorial misconduct. In this argument, Naderer asserts she is entitled to a new trial because the prosecutor called her a liar during the closing argument. She was appealing to the court on grounds that she was slandered by prosecutors when she had been on trial. According to attorney Lee Mandel, Naderra asserted that the court failed to prove malice in support of the murder conviction and failed to prove that Naderra and Marcus reached a conspiratorial agreement. However, according to court documents, to sustain a conviction for conspiracy, the Commonwealth must establish

the defendant, one, entered into an agreement to commit or aid in an unlawful act with another person or persons, two, with a shared criminal intent, and three, an overt act was done in furtherance of the conspiracy. Specifically, Naderra argues that the greater weight of the evidence does not support the essential elements of malice for murder or agreement for conspiracy. As to conspiracy, where both defendants struck the child victim in each other's presence and each agreed with the other that they would not take the victim to see a doctor for fear. of exposure of their heinous acts. This argument is frivolous.

The court answered Naderas objections to the trial ruling by stating, here ample, physical, and eyewitness evidence established that Naderra, along with Marcus, beat and abjia Quinn for a prolonged period before his death and denied him appropriate medical care for fear that they might be arrested if his wounds and scars came to light. Nadera struck Jaquin hard enough to cause severe and ultimately fatal damage to several of his internal organs, including his pancreas. This alone establishes malice sufficient to support this conviction. Burning his buttocks with a blowtorch is also an act that establishes Nadir's wickedness

of disposition, hardness of heart, recklessness of consequences, and disregard of social duty. The evidence overwhelmingly establishes that the defendant caused Jaquin Bruton's death doing so with malice. The idea that the injuries inflicted on Jaquin were not done with malice is astonishing, giving the evidence presented against her. Now Marcus testified to the conversation he and Naderer had about taking Jaquin to the hospital for burns that she inflicted that resulted in the couple continuing to hide the evidence until it blew up in their faces. It wasn't surprising that Naderas weak attempts to shirk responsibility for her crimes when unheeded.

In the end, her appeal was denied. Now, Nadera took some time to lick her wounds, but it would not be her last attempt to escape her sentence. Naderah filed another appeal, but that appeal was ultimately dismissed on February 22, 2019, due to her failure to file a brief. Now, essentially, she didn't outline why she was filing an appeal. Providing no new argument to the court on her conviction and no evidence to assert her innocence, her appeal was yet again denied. Nader tried to appeal again in 2020, this time switching up her tactic and arguing over a

lack of DNA evidence linking her to the violence against Jaquin. Specifically, the DNA on other objects linked to her crimes, such as the belt, the brush, and the blowtorch. Now, Naderra claimed that DNA would prove that Marcus or some other person was the culprit. The court cited that these were common items in the home, and it would not be unusual to find Marcus's DNA on the items in question. Furthermore, it would not prove that Naderra was not the perpetrator of the violence against Jaquin. On March 11, 2021, the court issued notice to Naderah of the court's intent to dismiss the DNA petition. She did not file a response to the court and so on April 29th, 2021, the court dismissed the DNA motion and granted her counsel's motion to withdraw.

Naderie yet again filed another notice of appeal on May 29th, 2021, but that too was denied. She was clearly grasping at straws to escape her sentence and avoid punishment. Ndair is currently being held at the state correctional institution at Muncie, which is a medium to maximum security prison for female offenders in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. No information has been found on Marcus's current prison housing. As his sentence was only 10 to 20 years, it's quite possible that he's already been released. Jaquin was reported to have been cremated. A funeral was held for him on July 16th, 2011 in the Nicestown Teoga section of the city. The West Philadelphia community believed that economic class and race had an impact on the poor interventions and minimal coverage of Jaquin's story.

Lack of sufficient memorials and poor neighborhoods is not uncommon, and it appears that fundraising was not done on their behalf. Ashley Bruton continues to grieve for her son. In court, she stated, a three-year-old child didn't deserve this. My son couldn't defend himself. Mommy loves you. Mommy misses you. Ashley continues to write similar sentiment. on her personal Facebook page, keeping her son's memory alive.