A couple has been charged in the death of the man's 2-year-old son in La Quinta a decade ago for allegedly abusing him so badly he suffered seizures and had bleeding on his brain.
Patricia Ann Brown, 47, and her husband, Derrick Allen Brown, 44, are charged with murder in the death of 2-year-old Deetrick Brown in 2003.
Patricia Brown is additionally charged with assault on a child under eight with force likely to cause great bodily injury, according to court documents.
The couple had been charged originally in 2003 but following a preliminary hearing, a judge found insufficient evidence to move to trial, according to the county District Attorney's office.
Since then, evidence has surfaced to warrant the reinstatement of charges in the case, according John Hall, information officer for the Riverside County District Attorney's office.
The Browns were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at the Riverside Courthouse but the case was moved to the courthouse in Indio, court documents state.
They were ordered to appear March 22 for arraignment at the Larson Justice Center .
According to an affidavit submitted by the Riverside County District Attorneys' office to secure an arrest warrant, the toddler was taken to a hospital when he suffered a seizure at his home at 51065 Avenida Velasco Jan. 15, 2003.
He was transferred to Loma Linda University Medical Center in San Bernardino County, where he died at 7:43 a.m. Jan. 16.
An autopsy determined the the boy had suffered bruising to the brain and also that his brain had been bruised in the past.
There was a stain on his brain from that past injury, the affidavit states.
The cause of death was determined to be acute and chronic abusive head trauma, papers state.
Deetrick was a little more than a year old when he was taken from his mother, Fatima Mitchell, because she was accused of abusing his half-sister, court papers indicate.
During the baby's time in foster care, he did not suffer any injuries, the affidavit states, but once he was turned over to the baby's father in 2002, injuries began to appear.
In July 2002, Deetrick was taken to a hospital with a burn to his hand, though his parents claimed he caught his hand in a garage door.
They also claimed the boy had pulled his own skin off his hand, resulting in the boy being sent to therapy, according to the affidavit prepared by D.A. Investigator Sean Murphy.
During therapy sessions -- of which his father only allowed six of the prescribed 10 -- the psychologist noted that the boy seemed detached from his step-mother, Patricia Brown.
Between 2002 and 2003, the toddler suffered four seizures, was malnourished, had bruises all over his body, was intermittently cross-eyed and appeared withdrawn and apprehensive toward his step-mother.
Nothing was done to help the boy, not even when a bruise to his forehead with his half-brother's toy sent him into seizure, court papers indicate.
After he died, the father and step-mother claimed the boy was a drug baby and they had gotten custody of him just before his death.
Investigators determined the Browns were lying because the boy had been in foster care from 2001 to 2002 and his own mother had not seen him since 2001, according to the affidavit.
There was no evidence that the boy had birth defects, had suffered injuries by accident or had any pre-existing medical condition, court papers state.
