An Ohio man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend and her son.
Desean Brown was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday, Sept. 10, after pleading guilty to the murders of Nyteisha Lattimore, 29, and her 3-year-old son, Nylo, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer and Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich’s news release.
Brown, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder. The death penalty was dropped as part of the September 10 plea agreement, and Lattimore’s family was spared “years of painful appeals,” according to the press release.
The hearing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court took place nearly five years after Brown killed Lattimore and her son “on or about” December 5, 2020, according to the release.
According to the release, Brown first fatally stabbed Lattimore, whom The Enquirer identified as his ex-girlfriend, in her apartment in Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood. (One of her relatives told The Enquirer that at the time of her death, Lattimore was allowing Brown, with whom she had previously been in a relationship, to stay in the apartment.
Prosecutors said he stabbed Lattimore 11 times in the neck.
According to the release, Brown killed Nylo the following morning by throwing him into the Ohio River while still alive.
According to The Enquirer, he took the 3-year-old in a stroller to the Purple People Bridge, which spans the river. He then threw the toddler and stroller into the river, which Assistant Prosecutor Seth Tieger described as “icy cold” during a hearing on September 10, according to the outlet.
Days later, on December 11, Brown placed Lattimore’s body in a bag he purchased on eBay and took an Uber to the Purple People Bridge, where he left the remains, according to the Enquirer. He lied to the Uber driver about what was in the bag, according to the outlet.
Brown attempted to throw the bag into the river, as he had done with the toddler, but it became stuck on a ledge, according to the Cincinnati outlet. The next day, someone discovered the bag containing Lattimore’s remains.
Despite massive searches, Nylo’s body was never found. The stroller was eventually discovered in the river by family members, according to The Enquirer and Tieger.
According to The Enquirer, Brown kept Lattimore’s body in her apartment for a few days before he left it on the bridge, and Tieger claims there was so much blood that it leaked into the unit below.
Brown also looked up how to clean up blood and attempted to do so at the crime scene, according to the Cincinnati outlet.
There was no discussion of motive at the recent hearing, but prosecutors said in 2023 that a woman told authorities that Brown blamed Lattimore for her miscarriage, according to The Enquirer.
According to the outlet, the woman also claimed Brown discussed killing her and Nylo in retaliation.
The September 10 plea agreement was “initially offered under the prior administration, but was finalized after Brown was recently found competent to stand trial,” according to a release from Pillich’s office.
It occurred less than a week after a psychologist testified that Brown was attempting to fake mental illness symptoms, according to The Enquirer.
In the release, Pillich described Brown’s actions as “ruthless,” which the plea agreement “reflects.” The prosecutor went on to say, “This sentence delivers justice for both Nyteisha and Nylo.”
Brown declined to make a statement at the September 10 hearing.
