Woman Killed 3 Kids, Wants Cut Of Their Estate

A mentally disturbed woman who drowned her three
young children in a bathtub is going to court to ask a
judge for a cut of their $350,000 estate.
Leatrice Brewer will be taken from an upstate
psychiatric facility to testify about her request next
month, Nassau County Surrogate’s Court Judge
Edward McCarty ruled Thursday.
Brewer, 33, was found not guilty because of mental
disease or defect in the deaths of her children, ages
1, 5 and 6, so her attorneys say she shouldn’t be
subject to laws that bar convicts from profiting from
their crimes.
Brewer admitted she drowned the children in the
bathtub of her apartment in New Cassel, on Long
Island about 20 miles east of New York City, in
February 2008. She later placed the children’s bodies
on a bed and tried to kill herself by swallowing a
concoction of household cleaning chemicals. When
that suicide bid failed, she jumped out her second-
story window but again survived.
Instead of facing trial on three murder counts in the
children’s deaths, Brewer pleaded not responsible by
reason of mental disease or defect. Psychiatrists had
determined she suffered a major depressive disorder
and believed she killed the children to save them from
the potentially fatal effects of voodoo.
Brewer is being kept at a state psychiatric hospital
until psychiatrists determine she’s no longer mentally
ill.
Although the case would establish a precedent in
New York if Brewer succeeds, she’s not expected to
see any money because of a $1.2 million lien against
her for psychiatric counseling and other services she
has received since her arrest, attorneys said.
New York’s Son of Sam Law, named for the 1970s
serial killer and amended in 2001, was designed to
prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes,
such as by selling their stories to book publishers or
moviemakers. The judge in Brewer’s case, though,
has noted the unique aspect — that Brewer wasn’t
convicted.
The case drew attention to Nassau County’s social
services agency, whose caseworkers visited Brewer’s
apartment two days before the killings and found no
one home but neglected to schedule an immediate
follow-up visit. Two social workers were later
suspended.
Lawsuits against the county filed by the father of
Brewer’s 1-year-old son, Innocent Demesyeux, and 5-
year-old son, Michael Demesyeux, were settled for
$250,000. A lawsuit filed by the father of Brewer’s 6-
year-old daughter, Jewell Ward, was recently settled
for $100,000.
The judge has scheduled a Nov. 6 hearing on the
matter.