MARKEVION HIXON - 3 yo - / Convicted: Nicole Renee Henderson and boyfriend Cornelius A. Jones - Pensacola, FL

Second Person Arrested In Child Abuse Case

September 28, 2012

A second person has been arrested after investigators determined he was involved in beating a 3-year old boy who died last week.



Cornelius A. Jones, 30, was charged with one count of aggravated battery on a child.

Nicole Renee Henderson, 27, was arrested last week on four counts of
aggravated child abuse after an investigation determined that she
severely beat four children with a belt.

The investigation began after 3-year old Markevion Hixon was taken
by ambulance to Baptist Hospital Thursday night after he choked on a hot
dog. Markevion died just after 7 p.m.

Henderson was Hixon’s legal guardian because his father, Demarcus
Hixon, is in jail and his mother is deceased. Pensacola Police
Department Detective Shannan Fortenberry said Henderson had been
Markevion’s primary caregiver since September 3 when his father was
arrested.

During an autopsy on Friday, a number of injuries unrelated to his
death were found on Markevion’s body. The injuries were at various
points of healing and were consistent with him being whipped with a belt
or a cord, Fortenberry said.

Fortenberry said Markevion had injuries on his abdomen, legs, arms,
chest, and back in addition to recent injuries on his backside that
appeared to be friction type burns on both buttocks.



It was determined three of four other children who live with Henderson
also had been beaten and had similar injuries to those found on
Markevion. Henderson said she used a belt when disciplining the
children.

The investigation expanded after an anonymous caller contacted the
Department of Children and Families hotline and said someone saw
Henderson and her boyfriend, Cornelius Jones, grab Markevion by his arm and beat him after he soiled his pants.

Four children – ages two, four, five, and six – have been removed
from the home by the Department of Children and Family Services. Police
said the investigation is continuing, and more charges are possible.

Jones remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $250,000; Henderson is being held without bond.

http://www.northescambia.com/2012/09/second-person-arrested-in-child-abuse-case

Couple sentenced for abusing children

May 31, 2013


A Pensacola couple arrested in September after signs of abuse were found during the autopsy of a 3-year-old boy in their care were found guilty on Friday and given lengthy prison sentences.

Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh sentenced Nicole Henderson, 28, to 40 years in prison. Cornelius Jones, 31, will spend 20 years in prison, the judge ordered.

Both were convicted of aggravated child abuse on Friday, following a two-day trial, for repeatedly beating Markevion Hixon with a belt or cord while they were caring for him in September.

During the 17 days Hixon was in their care, he was found unresponsive and later died at the hospital.

The couple was never charged with the child’s death, but an autopsy later revealed that Hixon had injuries on his abdomen, legs, arms, chest, back and buttocks because of Jones and Henderson’s abuse.

It took a jury about 90 minutes to find the couple guilty.

Henderson was also convicted of abusing Hixon’s 4-year-old and 5-year-old siblings by beating them as well.

Nobody testified on either defendant’s behalf.

During sentencing, Assistant State Attorney Anne Patterson said the children will be emotionally scarred because of the ways the couple treated them.

And it went beyond the beatings, she said.

“(The children) were completely at (Henderson and Jones’) mercy,” Patterson said, explaining that Henderson would force Markevion “to sleep naked on a towel on the floor in a hallway because (she) couldn’t be troubled ... to handle a baby’s toilet training another way ...”

Before Bergosh imposed his sentence, multiple loved ones made tearful pleas for leniency, saying that Henderson and Jones were good people who never hurt anybody.

Patterson, however, was quick to point out that barely anybody mentioned the horrific ordeal that the children endured. She also pointed out that both have violent-crime convictions.

“The state would urge the court to show as much compassion to Nicole Henderson as she showed to Markevion Hixon,” Patterson said.

She said after the trial that Hixon’s siblings are in foster care and are doing well.

Henderson was sentenced to 20 years in March for violating her probation for unrelated charges. Bergosh said Friday that her new sentence will run concurrently with the other sentence.


http://www.pnj.com/article/20130531/NEWS11/130531018/Couple-sentenced-abusing-children

These monsters had this baby for less than a month and he dies. RIP little man. I hope he is having fun playing with his mommy in heaven.

At least this judge has some common sense.

The parents of the little infant who lost 7 fingers got no jail time.