5 TO 15 YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR A 19-YEAR-OLD BRONX MAN IN
THE BEATING DEATH OF A FOUR-YEAR-OLD

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 19-year-old man was sentenced to a term of up to 15 years imprisonment in the beating death of his girlfriend’s four- year-old son in January 2006.

State Supreme Court Justice Dennis Boyle sentenced Jose Calderon to the maximum term of 5 to 15 years imprisonment for manslaughter in the 2nd degree in the death of Quachaun Brown. The jury convicted Calderon last month after three hours of deliberations, following a month of testimony which included the account of the victim’s 10 year-old sister and details of the child’s brutal death in January 2006.

Calderon repeatedly beat Quachaun Brown in the head and body “by using his fists, a belt, a plastic bat, and by striking his head against a wall” during the course of several assaults that occurred between January 27, 2006 and January 30, 2006. The homicide occurred one month after the Quachaun’s fourth birthday at the Kossuth Avenue apartment that Calderon shared with the victim’s mother, Aleisha Smith. Smith, pled guilty to one count of Manslaughter in the 2nd degree and admitted to “recklessly causing the death” of her son when she failed to obtain prompt medical attention for him. She is currently serving a sentence of 2 ½ to 7 ½ years imprisonment.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Investigative Assistant District Attorney Astrid Borgstedt and Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Gamils of the Child Abuse / Sex Crimes Bureau.