A father in Ohio must serve seven days for contempt of court after attacking his son’s accused murderer during a pretrial hearing. Per the Washington Post, the attack was caught on courtroom surveillance video. In it, defendant Desean Brown is seen seated at a table conferring with his attorneys when a man suddenly appears from behind, blindsiding him with multiple blows as deputies intervene. The father, Tonio Hughes, was eventually subdued and taken to jail. In a statement to the Post, a spokesperson for the Hamilton County Sheriff said the judge and sheriff’s office “would like to emphasize that this behavior will not be tolerated in the courthouse.”
Brown, 22, was in court for a pretrial hearing on aggravated murder charges. Prosecutors say he fatally stabbed his girlfriend, Nyteisha Lattimore, on December 5, 2020. Six days later, he allegedly put Lattimore’s corpse in a body bag and used a ride-hailing service to haul it to the river, telling the driver that the bag contained his clothing. At some point that week, prosecutors say, Brown also murdered Lattimore’s 3-year-old son, Nylo, by tossing him into the Ohio River while he was still alive. Hughes, Nylo’s father, has been suffering with the loss ever since. “The pain and everything took over," Hughes' family friend Faith Burton told Fox 19. "He did what I think any of us would do.”
Prosecutors revealed a specific motive just last week: Lattimore was pregnant with Brown’s child but had a miscarriage; however, Brown suspected she had lost the baby intentionally and told a close friend that "he was going to do something to her baby Nylo" in revenge, according to a police investigator. Brown faces the death penalty if convicted. Per Law & Crime, the pretrial hearing will have "long-term ramifications," not because of the beating but because the judge refused Brown's lawyers’ motion to suppress his taped confession. (More capital murder stories.)
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