- Bail was denied Wednesday for Quincy Pierre, held in the death of an 11-week-old baby.
- A Brooklyn prosecutor called Pierre a flight risk and disputed defense medical findings.
A Brooklyn judge denied bail Wednesday for Quincy Pierre, charged in the 2019 death of an 11-week-old baby under his care.
New York Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo ruled against the bail efforts of defense lawyers and the Innocence Project –which submitted an amicus brief in the case earlier Wednesday – after a prosecutor argued that Pierre, who had damaged his ankle bracelet on two prior occasions, was a flight risk.
In arguments before the judge, the prosecutor, Ebonie Legrande, also disputed the recent reports of two defense pathologists who attribute the baby's injuries to pre-existing trauma and severe metabolic bone disease.
The pathologists' findings were reviewed by Insider in a story last week; they cite high-resolution X-rays in arguing that the baby's bones were so brittle, non-abusive handling could cause fractures.
The prosecutors' own experts, including city medical examiners, are standing by their finding that the death of the baby, Nikolaii Corbin Major, was a homicide. The baby had 67 fractures of varying ages in his rib cage and legs at the time of his death.
"It will be a battle of the experts" at trial, Legrande told the judge in arguing successfully that Pierre remain in jail pending trial.
Internal injuries the baby suffered "cannot be explained away by vitamin D deficiency or a weakened bone condition," she added, referring to the defense findings.
The baby's mother, Breeona Major, also appeared in court Wednesday on Pierre's behalf. She said she does not believe Pierre hurt the baby.
"I miss my son deeply," she said after court, tearfully.
Asked about what was going through her mind during the hearing, she said, "Number one, I thought about my son and justice for my son.
"And then I think also about Quincy and who he is, and the light that people try to portray him in," she added. "And it's not like that," she said.
Pierre is due back in court in January; a trial date has yet to be set.
In supporting the defense bail application, the Innocence Project brief criticized what it called "deception" and "coercive tactics" in the NYPD's interrogation of the then-19-year-old Pierre.
The brief's author, Lauren Gottesman, was not allowed to speak during Wednesday's brief court hearing.
"When they lie, about incriminating evidence, to a young person like Quincy Pierre, who was just 19 at the time, that is a dangerously manipulative tactic," Gottesman told Insider after court.
"It can put so much pressure on the person being interrogated," she added. "They feel there's no way out."
The prosecutor, though, defended Pierre's confession.
"The statements the defendant made were voluntary," she told the judge. "And the statements themselves support his criminality."