Here’s what we know so far about the death of a 6-year-old girl in Fitchburg
Shana Pedroso, 37, and Marvin Brito, 38, were arrested in connection to their daughter’s death.
The parents of a Fitchburg 6-year-old have been arrested and are facing charges in connection with the death of their daughter on Tuesday. Shana Pedroso, 37, and Marvin Brito, 38, were arraigned Wednesday on charges related to abuse. Both pleaded not guilty and were held without bail, according to the Worcester District Attorney’s office. They are due back in court on April 18 for a dangerousness hearing.The state’s Department of Children and Families has taken custody of the couple’s 9-year-old son, who was also found with injuries by the authorities.Fitchburg Police Chief Ernest Martineau called the investigation into the girl’s death “extremely active” and said there was no danger to the public. “This was not a random act,” he said Tuesday night. Here’s what we know so far about the child’s death and the allegations that have been made against her parents.
What authorities are saying
Marvin Brito is taken into Fitchburg District Court on Wednesday.
Fitchburg police responded to 139 Stoneybrook Road in Fitchburg around 11:58 a.m. on Tuesday after a 911 call, according to the DA’s office.
“Upon their arrival, police found an injured young boy and a non-responsive young girl,” Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said at a press conference.
Both children were taken to UMass Memorial HealthAlliance in Leominster, where the 6-year-old girl was pronounced dead. Her 9-year-old brother was taken to a Worcester hospital for treatment of injuries that were described by the DA as “nonlife-threatening.”
The Boston Globe reports the boy told authorities that he was injured Monday when he was walking with his sister, their parents, and two other unnamed children.
“He reported that his parents left them and that he and his sister were attacked by bullies,” the police report read, according to the newspaper.
The 9-year-old, who had “serious injuries and bruising to his face,” also told police that his mother had glued a wound on his neck closed with superglue. The boy told the authorities that his mother was mad Tuesday morning that his “sister wouldn’t drink.”
“He stated that his mother contacted his father on the telephone and that both of them stated not to call 911,” the police report obtained by the Globe read.
According to the Boston Herald, police observed “extensive bruising of various ages” over the 6-year-old’s entire body.
Pedroso and Brito were taken into custody around the time the children were found on Tuesday, according to MassLive.
When police searched the mother after her arrest, they found a note, dated April 9, that indicated the children were “very bad and beaten,” the Worcester Telegram and Gazette reports.
The Globe reports the family had never been reported to DCF before, with a spokeswoman for the department telling the newspaper that the agency, “continues to assist law enforcement in the active investigation of this tragedy.”
The children had been homeschooled since last September, according to the newspaper.
What the parents are saying
Pedroso is facing two counts of assault and battery on a child with injury, as well as two counts of reckless endangerment of a child.
A not-guilty plea was entered on her behalf. Her attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
Brito was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment of a child and two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child.
“The case is just beginning,” Brito’s attorney, Edward Fogarty, told Boston.com on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the lawyer told reporters outside the courthouse that it was “a very difficult time” for his client.
How the community is reacting
While Pedroso and Brito bought the property in 2015, neighbors told MassLive that they never saw children playing outside and that the family kept to themselves. “They were never really outside,” neighbor Joyel Pelletier told the Globe. “They stayed to themselves. … I didn’t even know there were kids in that house.”Doug Munroe told Boston25 that he’d only met the couple and their children once, but said his neighbors seemed “like a good family.”“They just seemed like everyone else,” he said. Another neighbor, Joseph Lepage, told WBZ the situation was tragic. “They’ll probably be in jail, and he’s lost his little sister,” he told the station. “He must have seen something. I think it’s tragic. It’s going to stay with him probably the rest of his life.”
Fitchburg police blocked off a portion of Stoneybrook Road on Tuesday.
