RICHMOND, Va. -- Seven-month-old Brendon Newton took his last breath on Sept. 12, 2015 in an old RV parked at a mechanic shop along Jefferson Davis Highway in Richmond.
On Friday, Richmond Police charged Newton’s parents, Sabrina Malick and Walter Newton, with second degree murder and felony child neglect in connection with the little boy’s death.
Brendon Newton
“We don’t really know who to believe and what to believe,” Sabrina Malick’s brother Galen Malick said.
Galen Malick said he doesn’t believe his sister intentionally hurt Brendon.
“I don’t think it was to be harmful or anything, I just think it was neglect, she got busy doing something else,” he said.
Malick doesn’t know what happened, and the police are not revealing what happened.
However, CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit talked to a cousin of Walter Newton who identified himself as Mark. He owns the RV the couple was staying in when the infant died.
Mark said Walter left Brendon and another child in the RV while Walter did some work at Mark’s mechanic shop.
Sabrina A. Malick and Walter E. Newton (PHOTO: Richmond Police)
At some point, Mark said Walter checked on the children, and that is when he found Brendon had choked on something and had no pulse.
Mark said he called 911.
“In this case when you have such a young child you don’t really have a back story,” Gene Lepley, a spokesperson for the Richmond Police Department, said.
Lepley would not say if Mark’s story as correct, but he said it took six months to charge the couple because it took time to build a case.
“Justice sometimes grinds a little slow, but we believe we have a strong case in this case and we’ll move forward with it,” Lepley said.
Mark said the other child in the RV with Brendon is now in the care of Child Protective Services.
