The Misery Machine - The Case of Marlon + La’Son Brito

Starting point is 00:00:00 Asked about the horrendous murders of her grandsons that took place here, Latarsha Sanders' mother told investigators, no one else would do this but her. Edson Marlon Brito was born on March 19, 2009 to parents Latarsha Sanders in Edson Brito. He was named after his father, but his friends just called him Marlon. His brother, Lason, Brito, was born on August 16, 2012. Marlin and Lason had three older siblings, an adult. adult sister Shaliyah, a teenage sister, Tamia, and an older teenage brother who was not named. Both boys had bright, beaming smiles and kind brown eyes. Marlon often wore his dark hair braided with beads in it. Lason's hair was shorter, often cropped close to his head.

Starting point is 00:00:48 Marlon was in the second grade and was described as a friendly and sweet boy, adored by all of his teachers. He excelled at gymnastics and could do an impressive handstand. His favorite color was a pink, and he often flashed the P-Sign in many of his photographs. When photographed together, the brothers seemed close, often leaning against one another. They both liked to play with their sister Shaliyah's dog. Their dad liked to take the boys to the park. Latarsha lived with the boy's father, Edson, along with Marlon and Lason. They lived in the third-floor apartment of a multi-family home at 247 Prospect Street in Brockton, Massachusetts. Latarsia and Edson had a history of disagreement. According to court records, Edson had been arrested several times for allegedly

Starting point is 00:01:34 assaulting Latarsha, but she dropped all of these charges. In January of 2017, Edson was caught selling crack at a gas station about a mile away from their home. Police reported that he tried to swallow the drugs during his arrest, but he was unsuccessful. He was indicted on charges of possession with intent to distribute, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest. Unable to make bail, he remained to the county jail for over a year waiting for his trial. One of Latarsha's older sons had also been living in the apartment, but he and his mother had been at odds. He began spending most nights at his girlfriend's house and stopped paying rent. Latarsha kicked him out of the home she shared with the boys in January of 2018. Latarcia's father and brother described her as a loving and devoted

Starting point is 00:02:21 mother, but they had said at some point she had lost her way. Her mother, Erlene, said it started with a YouTube video about the Illuminati. After watching it, Latarsha became increasingly obsessed. Over the course of two years, she used the internet to find more information about numerology and secret societies. She fell down a rabbit hole into a dangerous alternate reality where rituals and sacrifices could give somebody magical powers. Based on the way Erlene described her behavior, Latarsia was paranoid.

Starting point is 00:02:52 She thought the Illuminati was after her, and she'd been spying on her neighbors with a baby monitor. Erlene said that she was mentally unstable and crazy. Family had suggested Latarsha get mental health treatment, but she refused to do so. Another man Latarsha dated said she had a temper. He was the father of Latarsha's teenage son, but he didn't want to give his name to reporters. He met her over 18 years ago and said she had a temper even then. He recounted an argument they once had. She got extremely angry. She slapped his face so hard that his head, spun. Then she ran downstairs and broke all the side windows in his car. Other family members also called Latarsha angry. As her obsession grew, she lashed out at her family. According to her

Starting point is 00:03:39 mother, Latarsha said the devil had control of her family members. She said they were all asleep, unable to see the truth. She also believed that ritual human sacrifice could help her dying father. On Saturday, February 3rd, she, Marlon and Lason visited her mother. During this visit, Latarsha talked about human sacrifice. She told Erlene she wanted to sacrifice a person so she could move up in the world. She was still angry with her teenage son, and she told Erlene she hated him. She threatened to kill him and keep his body in her freezer. She also said she wanted to kill someone to get a human heart for her father.

Starting point is 00:04:19 Erlene thought she was acting crazy, but she'd been acting crazy for almost two years. She said Latarsha often acted crazy. A Monday morning, Latarsha again visited her mother, this time without the boys. Erlien said Latarsha was so out of it she was like a zombie. She yelled at Erlene, implying that her mother had killed her father. When asked about the boys, she refused to say where they were. But an hour later, Latarsia was back at her home on 247 Prospect Street. At around noon that same day, February 5th, police got a 911 call directing them to

Starting point is 00:04:54 Prospect Street. Latarsha had asked a neighbor to call 911 because she was having a medical emergency. Paramedics found her outside. Now at first, it seemed like she was having a seizure. However, according to their notes, the medic soon realized she was having a psychiatric episode. Police said she seemed distraught and combative. She didn't mention the boys at all. Paramedics took Latarsia to the Good Samaritan Medical Center for evaluation. A neighbor told police that 8-year-old Marlon and 5-year-old Lason lived in the apartment. With their mother gone, the children would be alone. When the police went upstairs,

Starting point is 00:05:28 they found the boys wrapped up in bedding and placed in their beds. They were both pronounced dead. Police found a kitchen knife sitting in the sink, and it had been recently cleaned. Officers took Latarsha to the police station for questioning. During her initial interview, they noted that she mumbled frequently

Starting point is 00:05:46 and was falling asleep. At first, Latarsha blamed Edson and her daughter, Tamia. She said her daughter, wanted a little blood. These were her words. However, Edson was still in county jail waiting for a hearing about his drug charges, and police knew that the story couldn't be true. Latarsia denied killing the boys, but police swabbed her hands and found human blood. Next, she blamed their deaths on, as she put it, voodoo stuff. She told officers she was conducting a ritual, but that no one was supposed to get hurt. As officers asked her more questions about the ritual, she admitted

Starting point is 00:06:23 she killed one of the boys. She said she stabbed Marlin on his legs and chest with a kitchen knife. Something went wrong with the ritual, though, and Marlon died. Eventually, she admitted that she stabbed Lason too. She explained that since the ritual had failed with Marlin, she had to try again. After the ritual failed with both boys, she told officers that she felt bad. She mopped the blood off the floor and cleaned the blood off of their bodies. Then she wrapped them up in sheets and place them into their beds. She washed the knife and left it in the sink to dry. Despite claiming that she felt bad, Latarsia never called for help. She provided no medical attention to either of her young sons. By the time first responders showed up at her apartment,

Starting point is 00:07:07 the boys had been dead for a long time, possibly as long as 48 hours. Latarsia was arrested and charged with homicide later that day. Family members, including Edson, so they had never heard her talk about voodoo before the murders. They agreed that. though, that she had been increasingly interested in conspiracy theories and human sacrifice. Latarsha was arraigned the next day on two counts of homicide and held without bail. Marlin's body was being autopsied at the same time the arraignment was being held. At the arraignment, prosecutors said based on the information they had so far, Marlin had been stabbed about 50 times.

Starting point is 00:07:43 They believe Lason had suffered fewer injuries, but his autopsy had not been conducted yet. Good afternoon, everyone. This is Scott Grotto, reporter from Mass Live, giving an update on a very terrible situation that happened in Brockton. Yesterday afternoon, Brockton authorities were called to an apartment on Prospect Street, and they discover the body of two boys, ages 5 and 8, inside the home. What we've learned today is the mother, the Tarsha Sanders, age 43, was charged in their killings. She was brought to court today in Brockton in charge with two counts of murder. Almost four years later, Latarsia's trial started in December of 2022 and lasted for nine days. During the trial, prosecutors used one of Latarsia's journals as evidence.

Starting point is 00:08:34 In the journal, she wrote about getting famous and earning money from a good story. She also wrote about setting up a GoFundMe account to raise money. In her handwritten notes, she indicated the money would go to the family member with the best story. She also expected to get fan mail so she set up a post office box. After her arrest, Latarsia also asked Shaliyah and other family members why they hadn't talked to the media about the murders. She encouraged them to do interviews. It seemed that she thought that the murder of Marlon and Lason was a good story. The medical examiner revealed the final autopsy results at the trial. Their initial estimates had been much too low.

Starting point is 00:09:16 Marlin, who was eight years old at the time, had been stabbed 76 times in his neck, chest, and stomach. He also had another 20 to 30 superficial cuts and scratches on his skin. Lason, who was only five years old, and stabbed 23 times in the back, chest and stomach. He had 80 additional superficial wounds all over his body. He also had a taper candle shoved deep inside his throat. Based on the number and location of the wounds, it seems likely that the boys would have been able to look into their mother's eyes while she stabbed them. Anguished cries were heard in the courtroom when the prosecutor said 8-year-old Marlon Sanders had been stabbed 50 times. And his five-year-old brother, he too was mutilated, allegedly by their mother during a ritual.

Starting point is 00:10:06 She explained the ritual and stated that it came out wrong with the first one, and she had failed. and for that reason she had to move on to the second child. It was yesterday when EMTs were called to the Brockton apartment. That call was made by the boy's mother, Latarsia Sanders. She wanted the ambulance for herself. But police then found the mutilated boys in their beds. And a similar boy who stabbed 50 times is never, it's tough to get your arms around that one. It really is.

Starting point is 00:10:35 During questioning, Sanders allegedly told police about the ritual she called Illuminati. Luminati. She was dealing some form of ritual that she had been talking about for a couple of years. I was getting information from it and that her family was aware of. It's bad enough that two little boys were killed. Then neighbors found out it was part of a ritual. I have children, grandchildren, and, you know, odd jobs is to protect them. You know, something like this to happen. You just wonder what goes through somebody's head. On December 27th, Latarsia was found guilty of two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of witness tamas. The next day, she was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole,

Starting point is 00:11:16 and another 9 to 10 years for witness tampering. She was sent to the Susa Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts, to serve her time. This is the same facility that once housed disgrace New England Patriots' tight end, Aaron Hernandez. The Judge Honorable William Sullivan said it was a life sentence for the rest of the family, too. He said, and I quote, two little boys are gone forever, and nothing we do here today is going to change that. Now, while some family members thought the sentence was too harsh, Edson, the boy's father, was very much in favor of it.

Starting point is 00:11:52 I'm going to impose the mandatory life sentence on both counts. Her defense attorney argued that she was insane at the time of the murders and said multiple family members were not in favor of the sentence, but the father of the children was in favor and the state asked for the mandatory sentence. The pain of the father, the sisters, the brothers, aunts, uncles, grandmother, that pain falls on their hearts every day and that's a life sentence for them. A few days after Latarsha's arrest, a vigil was held from Marlon and Lason on February 8th. Family and friends and members of the community gathered outside of the home on Prospect Street. People hung balloons, stuffed animals, and toys from a bush near the front door.

Starting point is 00:12:35 They lit candles, grieved together, and prayed. Bishop Orlando Harris led the vigil. In his comments, he asked everyone listening to do something if they noticed a loved one acting strangely. He said, quote, My charge to you is to do me a favor. If you ever see or hear about some strange behaviors going on with me or my family, call someone, check on me, don't ignore it, end quote. The loss of two innocent children in such a gruesome way devastated the family.

Starting point is 00:13:07 At the vigil, Latarsha's adult daughter Shaliyah said she didn't recognize the person her mother had become. She said, this lady in this picture is not my mother. I don't know who this lady in this picture is. Shaliyah was having a hard time adjusting to the absence of her brothers. She said, I'm still thinking they're upstairs, waiting for me to come bring my dog upstairs. It's not real to me right now. We saw a community embracing out here on Prospect Street in Brockton, a community. basically in shock. There has been nothing but extreme grief. And the vigil is an attempt to support one another. There was a resounding message if you know someone with a problem, with a psychiatric issue, with behavioral problems, seek help for them now. Eight-year-old Edson Marlowe Brito and five-year-old Lyson were allegedly stabbed to death by their mother, 43-year-old Latarcia Sander. The mother was arrested Monday.

Starting point is 00:14:04 I don't know. I can't think of anything that would drive a mom to do that to the kids, you know. Was there any signs of problems? No signs, you know, nothing at all. My brother said there were no signs at all, you know. In court papers, it says the mother admitted she killed the boys with a kitchen knife as part of a voodoo ritual. The mayor was among the speakers out here at Prospect Street in Brockton. The loss devastated the community as well.

Starting point is 00:14:37 Many of the students who went to the school with Marlon at Angelo Elementary School asked difficult questions. These were young kids, eight years old and younger. They wanted to know why someone would hurt their friend. They wanted to understand why a mother would kill her babies. Counselors were brought in. Staff and parents offered comfort and reassurance, but they couldn't explain something that no one really understands. And this, more than any talk about conspiracy things,

Starting point is 00:15:04 theories or whatever twisted idea of voodoo that Latarsha had is the true horror of the story. She was their mother. By all accounts, she loved her boys, and she killed them, and we will never truly understand why she did it. A celebration of life was held for Marlon and Lason on February 17, 2018 at the St. Edith Stein Parish Church in Brockton. At the service, their father said, this is so hard, I wish this on no human being. The brothers were later laid to rest beneath a single headstone located.

Starting point is 00:15:34 at Melrose Cemetery. In May of 2018, Angelo Elementary School held a remembrance concert for Marland and his younger brother. In his honor, classmates sang songs like, We're all in this together, rise up, and the world is ours. The students all wore T-shirts that said, together we rise. They raised money for a buddy bench, which was installed later that year. A buddy bench, also knows a friendship bench, is a bench children can use to sit on when they're looking for a friend or someone to talk to.

Starting point is 00:16:03 In honor of the boys, the school held a poetry contest. Fifth grader Eelan Zhang won the prize for her poem, which she read at the concert. The sentiment she expressed was simple and innocent. It read, Our joined hands move mountains, always together in our hearts. Nothing could ever tear us apart.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Marlon + La’Son Brito

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