Brownsville Woman Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison For Beating Her 4-Year-Old Nephew to Death with a Belt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 1, 2017

 

Brownsville Woman Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison
For Beating Her 4-Year-Old Nephew to Death with a Belt

Defendant Struck Child Numerous Times, Claiming
He Wouldn’t Focus During Spelling Lessons

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 24-year-old Brownsville woman has been sentenced to 22 years in prison following her conviction last month on charges of first-degree manslaughter for beating her 4-year-old nephew to death with a belt and its buckle while she was babysitting him.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “It is incomprehensible that anyone could hurt a child, much less beat an innocent and helpless four-year-old to death. Ethan Ali was robbed of his young life and now this defendant will appropriately spend many years of her life in prison for this brutal act.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Christen Dale, 24, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. She was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Miriam Cyrulnik to 22 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision. The defendant was convicted last month of first-degree manslaughter, two counts of second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child following a jury trial.

The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on February 25, 2015, inside of 287 Rockaway Parkway, where the defendant lived with her sister and her nephew, Ethan Ali, 4, the defendant was watching the child while her sister was at work.

At some point, according to testimony, the defendant began to beat him with a belt, striking him repeatedly with both the strap and the metal buckle. The defendant told police she had been trying to teach the 4-year-old to spell and became enraged when the child failed to focus on the lesson.

According to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Ethan suffered blunt impact trauma resulting in internal bleeding causing multi-system organ failure, and was left with extensive bruising on his torso, back, buttocks, thighs, arms and scalp.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Frank DeGaetano, First Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Deanna Paul, also of the Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Chief.

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