Lincoln woman found guilty of intentional child abuse resulting in son's death
A Lincoln mother has been found guilty of intentional child abuse resulting in her young son's death for ignoring signs her then-boyfriend was abusing him and not getting help for the boy for nearly five hours after finding him unable to wake.
"We the jury duly impaneled ... do find Brittany C. Cook guilty of child abuse resulting in death," the bailiff said, reading the jury verdict forms.
In the front row, Rudy Requejo-Ybarra's paternal grandmother quietly said: "Thank God."
Nearby, Cook's family members cried and wiped away tears.
Cook, 32, will face at least 20 years and up to life in prison on the charge at her sentencing in November.
She could get up to 50 years more on charges of intentional child abuse resulting in serious injury for not seeking help when his leg was broken three weeks prior to his fatal head injury and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver near a school.
Earlier this summer, a separate jury found Cook's ex-boyfriend, Joshua Tackett, guilty of causing the injuries that resulted in 22-month-old Rudy's death.
Prosecutors charged Cook, too, for not getting him help sooner.
The question for the jury was whether her actions were knowing and intentional or negligent and the proximate cause of his death.
Cook's attorneys had argued it was negligent child abuse and that she had acted recklessly, not intentional child abuse, a "gross deviation" from what most people would do.
Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Amy Goodro said Cook ignored red flags after she started seeing Tackett in January 2023. Then, she failed to get Rudy medical treatment when Tackett broke his leg three weeks before his death, lying to her aunt about taking him to get it checked out and saying it was a sprain.
She said Cook failed even to get him Tylenol after she found him in his Pack N Play with a gash on his head and a dislodged tooth and left him and his 3- and 4-year-old sisters alone to go to a casino with Tackett thinking he might have a concussion.
On March 12, 2023, Cook found Rudy in his crib around 11 a.m. and he wouldn't wake up, but she didn't take him to a hospital for nearly five hours.
By then, it was too late to save Junior, who was declared brain dead and later taken off life support.
In closing arguments, Goodro said the one person who could have protected Junior — his mother — "intentionally failed him."
On the other side, defense attorney Sean Reagan said prosecutors wanted the jury to adjudge Cook guilty out of anger, but it wasn't that simple. He pointed to manipulation by Tackett and said he shielded her from her son in the days before his death.
The jury of six men and six women got the case just after 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and spent the afternoon deliberating. They returned to the courtroom shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday with the guilty verdicts.
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