CINCINNATI — A new motive was revealed Friday in an Ohio courtroom about what led to the killings of a 3-year-old and his 29-year-old mother in December 2020.
Kimberly Kelley, a detective for the Cincinnati Police Department, told the judge it appears Nyteisha Lattimore was pregnant with Desean Brown's child but then had a miscarriage.
She said Brown was very upset and thought that Nyteisha killed his baby, so he was going to do something to her 3-year-old, Nylo.
Brown is accused of killing both Nylo and Nyteisha.
On Friday, his attorney asked the judge to prevent the use of Brown's confession tape in the trial. They claim the detective intimidated him into waiving his right to an attorney. The judge said she would decide at a later date.
The judge refused to lower his bond despite the defense's request. Brown will remain behind bars with no bond option.
Nyteisha was stabbed to death in her home Dec. 5, 2020, according to police. Her body would not be discovered until Dec. 12, when a security guard found it abandoned on Pete Rose Way in downtown Cincinnati.
According to Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, Brown let Nyteisha's body sit in her apartment for at least five days, before using a body bag to remove it from the apartment.
During the news conference last year, Deters showed a screenshot of a surveillance video dated Dec. 11, 2020, which he said depicts Brown carrying Nyteisha's body in the body bag through a hallway in her Walnut Hills apartment building. Brown allegedly took an Uber to dump her body.
According to investigators, Brown's phone records show he searched body bags, cleaning products and bridges in Cincinnati.
Brown allegedly threw Nylo into the Ohio river while the little boy was still alive. His body has never been found.
Here's a timeline of the events according to the prosecutor's office:
- Dec. 5, 2020 – Desean Brown kills Nyteisha Lattimore
- Dec. 6, 2020 – Brown throws Nylo in the river, alive
- Dec. 11, 2020 – Brown takes the body bag containing Nyteisha’s body to the Purple People Bridge
- Dec. 12, 2020 – Nyteisha’s body was discovered by law enforcement
- Dec. 13, 2020 – Nylo’s stroller is located in the river
While keeping the body in the apartment, Deters said Brown accessed Nyteisha's phone to post and communicate via her Facebook account.
One post, dated Dec. 5 -- the day of Nyteisha's death -- read: "I love him forever Desean Brown."
It was a killing that Deters described as premeditated.
"He planned for a long time to kill her," he said. "I don't know what his deal is, but he absolutely planned this thing out for probably up to two months."
Brown's trial is set for Oct. 17.
Christian LeDuc, Courtney Francisco, and Evan Millward at WCPO first reported this story.
