Sophia Brito, age 6 (pictured right; also spelled Sofia), was beaten by her parents, Shana Pedroso (pictured left) and Marvin Brito, resulting in her death. Sophia and her 9-year-old brother J.B. were homeschooled.
Brito had a history of violent criminal charges dating back to 1997. Neighbors said the family kept to themselves and the children were rarely seen. J.B. attended public preschool for about a month in 2012, but was soon withdrawn from school. “The family submitted a homeschool application for their two children in fall 2017, their first record of any interaction with the district.” On April 9, 2018, Pedroso beat the children, writing in a note that they were “bad and beaten.” According to J.B, the next morning, Sophia “wouldn’t drink” but his parents told him not to call 911. Pedroso used superglue to close a wound on J.B.’s face. When authorities were called later that day, Sophia was unresponsive and had “extensive bruising of various ages over her entire body.” J.B. had “serious injuries and bruising to his face.” The children were taken to the hospital, where Sophia died.
Pedroso was charged with assault of a child, Brito was charged with permitting injury to a child, and both were charged with reckless endangerment.
Date: April 10, 2018
Location: Fitchburg, Massachusetts
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