Parents Charged In Deadly Beating Allegedly Super Glued Son's Wound
FITCHBURG (CBS) – The parents charged in the beating of a 6-year-old girl found dead inside a Fitchburg home allegedly super glued their other child's wound and ordered him not to call 911.
The girl was found inside a Stoneybrook Road just before noon on Tuesday along with her 9-year-old brother.
Both were rushed to an area hospital. The girl died and the boy is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Shana Pedroso was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of reckless endangerment and two counts of assault and battery on child. Prosecutors confirmed Pedroso is the children's mother.
Pedroso was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing next week.
Police say the boy told first responders that he and his sister were attacked by bullies. Prosecutors also say Pedroso instructed the child not to call 911 even though he was injured and his sister "couldn't drink."
Pedroso allegedly closed a wound on the boy's neck with super glue. He was found with serious injuries and bruising to his face.
Police say they found notes that Pedroso allegedly wrote, saying the children were observed to be bad and were beaten.
Michelle LeBlanc is one of the family's neighbors.
"As a mom, it tears me apart because I can't ever imagine doing something like that to my child. It's horrible, horrible," she said.
Marvin Brito, the father of the children is charged with two counts of reckless endangerment of child and two counts permitting substantial injury to a child. A judge also ordered him held without bail.
Edward Fogarty, Brito's lawyer, said "It's a highly stressful situation, as you can imagine, so it's of great impact to him and to the family, so it's a very difficult time."
A Fitchburg woman who asked not to be identified told WBZ-TV she saw police were looking for a woman, so she turned on her scanner and heard a description. A short time later, she saw a woman matching the description talking on her cell phone.
The resident didn't think anything seemed out of the ordinary, but called police to be safe. Officers arrived and took the woman into custody.
A minivan in the family's driveway has a sticker that shows a happy family of four.
That group is forever broken now, said neighbor Joseph Lepage.
"They'll probably be in jail, and he's lost his little sister," he said of the boy. "He must have seen something. I think it's tragic. It's going to stay with him probably the rest of his life."
