On June 29, 2015 the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Arizona Department of Child Safety regarding a possible child abuse case involving 34 year old Nakia Brice.
AZDCS reported that a nine year old boy was at the Banner University Hospital (BUH)in Tucson with his mother Nakia Brice and an initial hospital report stated that the mother said the boy had fallen from a tree causing head injuries. AZDCS stated that the boy was in the intensive care unit being treated for severe head trauma and there were indications of past fractures in the rib and spine that were in various stages of healing.
The boy, who is diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome and unable to speak, lives at a residence in Whetstone with his mother and two other siblings ages eight and two. Because of the boys inability to speak and the head trauma, Detectives were not able to communicate with him for an interview.
During interviews by Detectives and DCS investigators with the mother, she said that an incident had occurred in which the boy was ‘acting out’ (kicking/biting/scratching) and she lost control while defending herself with a baseball bat. The mother advised she struck the boy multiple times with the bat in the head and body.
Sheriff’s Office Detectives conducted a search warrant at the residence and recovered a baseball bat reportedly used in this incident.
On July 1, 2015 at 2:40 pm, Brice was arrested and booked into the Cochise County Jail on four counts of Aggravated Assault and one count of Child Abuse.
This case remains under investigation by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.