REMEMBERING KRISTIE

Kristie Bruen was four years old when she died in Peekskill, New York. She lived with her mother, Jana Lee Bruen, her mother’s boyfriend, Wesley Carlton Fisher, and her six year old twin siblings. Kristie was still at an age when home should have meant safety. She should have been able to depend completely on the adults around her for food, comfort, protection and love. Instead, witnesses later described a little girl who was repeatedly beaten, deprived of food and subjected to cruel punishment inside her own home. Neighbors and babysitters saw evidence of what was happening to her, and several witnessed acts of abuse firsthand. Kristie became so hungry that witnesses said she scavenged through garbage cans looking for food. She was only four. She should never have known hunger that way.

KRISTIE’S STORY

The abuse Kristie suffered did not begin on the day she died. Neighbors and babysitters later testified that both Jana and Wesley physically abused her. The evidence presented at trial included eyewitness accounts, medical findings and admissions from both adults that they had struck Kristie. Witnesses described Kristie being beaten, kicked, whipped and burned with cigarettes. Food was withheld from her so frequently that she was seen searching through garbage for something to eat. The abuse was visible outside the home. There were bruises. There were people who saw Kristie being hurt. And in the final weeks of her life, concerns about the children inside the home had already reached social services. Authorities later determined that the series of beatings that ultimately killed Kristie began around October 26, 1980.According to the history preserved on the original Abuse Angels page, Kristie was denied dinner as punishment on the final night of her life. Hungry, she went into the kitchen and took an open can of peas from the refrigerator. Her mother found her sitting on the kitchen floor eating them. Kristie was punished again. On October 30, Jana and Wesley brought Kristie’s lifeless body to the emergency room at Peekskill Community Hospital. They claimed she had fallen down a flight of stairs. Hospital personnel immediately saw reasons to doubt that explanation. Kristie’s body was covered with injuries. Police were called. The extent of the abuse became impossible to conceal. An autopsy documented approximately 200 bruises on Kristie’s body. Contemporary reporting described cigarette burns and evidence of prolonged physical abuse. Her injuries did not support the story that she had simply fallen down the stairs. Investigators also found evidence inside the home. When officers went to check on Kristie’s six year old twin siblings, they found the children alone in the apartment. A wooden paddle that a neighbor said she had seen Jana use to strike Kristie was visible inside the home and was seized by police. Jana and Wesley admitted striking Kristie but attempted to characterize their actions as punishment and maintained that they had not intended to seriously injure her. The medical evidence and testimony from people who had witnessed the abuse told a different story. Kristie had endured repeated violence before her death. She was four years old.

WARNING SIGNS & SYSTEM FAILURES 

Kristie was known to people outside her home. More importantly, concerns about abuse inside that home reached Westchester County social services before she died.

On October 16, 1980, social workers went to the Bruen home after receiving a report that Kristie’s six year old sister, Joy, was being abused. They returned on October 21.

The bruising on Joy was attributed to a fall from a tree. During those visits, workers did not examine Kristie. Then came a warning specifically about her. On October 27, a teacher reported that she suspected Kristie was being beaten. A social worker was assigned to investigate. The investigation did not happen. The worker also failed to tell a supervisor that no action had been taken. The timing was devastating. Authorities later determined that the fatal series of beatings had begun around October 26.

That meant someone reported suspected abuse of Kristie while the violence that would ultimately kill her was already occurring. Three days after the teacher’s report, Kristie was dead. Her autopsy documented approximately 200 bruises. There had been two social service visits to her home during the previous two weeks. There had been concerns about injuries to another child living there. There had been witnesses who saw Kristie being abused. And finally, there had been a report specifically warning that Kristie herself was being beaten. The warning reached the system. Help did not reach Kristie.

JUSTICE FOR KRISTIE

Jana Lee Bruen and Wesley Carlton Fisher were prosecuted for Kristie’s death. At trial, prosecutors presented the medical evidence together with testimony from neighbors and babysitters who had witnessed both defendants abusing Kristie. Jana and Wesley admitted hitting her but argued that they had not intended to cause the serious physical injuries that resulted in her death. The jury rejected their defenses and convicted both of first degree manslaughter. Jana was sentenced to eight and a half to twenty five years in prison. Wesley was sentenced to twelve and a half to twenty five years in prison. Both defendants appealed their convictions. On April 14, 1986, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York affirmed both judgments. The appellate court found that their admissions, the medical evidence and testimony from neighbors and babysitters who witnessed the abuse more than adequately established the intent required to support the verdicts.

 

Jana Lee Bruen

Relationship to Kristie: Mother

Conviction(s): First degree manslaughter

Sentence: 8½ to 25 years in prison

 

Wesley Carlton Fisher

Relationship to Kristie: Mother’s Boyfriend

Conviction(s): First degree manslaughter

Sentence: 12½ to 25 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Kristie lived for only four years. One small detail from her final night captures something especially heartbreaking about what her life had become. She was hungry. According to the history preserved from her case, Kristie had been sent to bed without dinner. She eventually went into the kitchen, found an open can of peas and sat on the floor eating them. A four year old should never have had to sneak food because she was afraid of being punished for being hungry. Kristie should have been able to walk into her kitchen knowing that food belonged to her too. She should have been able to make mistakes without fearing violence. She should have been able to sleep without fear. She should have known that the adults responsible for her would protect her rather than hurt her. After Kristie died, doctors documented her injuries. Police gathered evidence. Neighbors and babysitters testified. Social service decisions were examined. Two adults were prosecuted and convicted. But before Kristie became evidence in a courtroom or another child whose death exposed failures in the system meant to protect her, she was simply a little girl. Someone did eventually sound the alarm specifically for Kristie. A teacher recognized that she might be being beaten and reported it. That report came only three days before her death. The intervention Kristie desperately needed never came. More than four decades later, the failures surrounding her death remain important because children should never disappear between a report being made and someone actually checking whether they are safe. But those failures are not Kristie’s identity. Kristie was a four year old little girl who deserved food when she was hungry, comfort when she cried, gentleness when she made mistakes and safety every time she went home. She deserved the childhood she never received. She deserved to grow up. Abuse Angels remembers Kristie Bruen. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.