BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Inside the Calhoun County Courthouse, DePaul Brown’s cousin expressed her support for him.
Brown’s cousin, Careon Love, attended Brown’s arraignment and formally heard the accusations her cousin is facing.
“I just want to let him know that I love him, and I miss him, and everything gone be alright,” Love said.
Brown is accused of killing 17-month-old Jaleah Boyd. Brown was dating the infant`s mother. Last Thursday, police said that Brown and his girlfriend left all four of her children with a baby sitter at their apartment. They lived in the 900 block of North Avenue in Battle Creek.
The couple stopped by the home to drop off food. Brown reportedly took Jaleah to a couple of different rooms. After he and the baby’s mother left the apartment again, police said a 7-year-old found the baby unresponsive in a back bedroom. Detectives said that bruises were found on the child’s body. Child Protective Services came and took the other three children out of the home.
Brown’s family doesn’t believe he’s at fault. His cousin said he’s no child abuser.
“I asked him in front of [Jaleah’s mother], ‘DePaul, I know you don’t be putting your hands on none of them kids,’” Love said. “He was like ‘Naw, she do that. I put them in the corner.’”
Love added, “DePaul would never hurt no kids. Never at all, he loves kids too much.”
“Now, what he did in the past, that was the past,” Love said. “He’s not like that. He not a violent person,” she explained.
Brown served prison time for a felony weapons charge and obstruction. His family said he`s a different person now, and they want the truth to come out in this case.
The infant’s mother wasn’t in court. Love believes investigators should take a closer look at the baby sitter, a 17-year-old named “Jay.”
Brown is due back in court on August 13th for a preliminary hearing. The prosecutor believes the pathology report on Jaleah should be complete by then.
