The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Sep 17, 2012
 

Florida boy, 13, killed 2-year-old brother: US police

 
 

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP) - A decade before he was charged with murder, a 2-year-old Cristian Fernandez was found naked and dirty, wandering a South Florida street. The grandmother taking care of him had holed up with cocaine in a messy motel room, while his 14-year-old mother was nowhere to be found.

His life had been punctuated with violence since he was conceived, an act that resulted in a sexual assault conviction against his father.

Fernandez' life got worse from there: He was sexually assaulted by a cousin and beaten by his stepfather, who committed suicide before police investigating the beating arrived.

The boy learned to squelch his feelings, once telling a counselor: "You got to suck up feelings and get over it."