Accused killer of Nylo Lattimore, mother can face death penalty, judge says

CINCINNATI, Ohio (WXIX) - Nearly three years after the vicious slayings of a Cincinnati mother and her 3-year-old son, a judge announced Tuesday their accused killer can face the death penalty if he’s found guilty at trial.

The suspect, Desean Brown, 23, showed no immediate reaction as Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan gave her decision and then immediately set his trial for Dec. 5.

Brown is charged with two counts of aggravated murder and one count each of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in the December 2020 deaths of Nyteisha Lattimore, 29, and her toddler son, Nylo.

Brown’s lawyers wanted the death penalty taken off the table.

They contend he is seriously mentally ill and was incapable of knowing what he was doing.

Prosecutors strongly objected and cited multiple steps they say he took in trying to cover up the slayings. That proves he knew precisely what he was doing.

As Brown awaits trial, he is held on an order of “no bond” at the Hamilton County jail.

Nyteisha Lattimore was found stabbed to death and abandoned on Pete Rose Way near the Purple People Bridge over the Ohio River around 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 12, 2020, prosecutors and police have said.

Her son’s stroller was found along the river nearby.

Cincinnati police testified Brown was motivated to kill her. He blamed her for miscarrying his baby and talked about killing her and her son in retaliation.

Police and prosecutors have said they believe Brown actually killed Lattimore on Dec. 5, 2020, and left her body in the apartment for five days.

The following day, they say Brown threw her son off the bridge while he was still alive in the middle of the night.

The little boy’s body has never been found despite exhaustive searches that combed miles of the river banks in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Prosecutors have said in news conferences and prior court hearings in the case that Brown researched online how to clean up blood and then tried to clean up the crime scene, bought a body bag on eBay and lied to the Uber driver who took him to the river by saying the body bag he had with him was full of clothes and other personal items.

Three psychologists who interviewed Brown testified at his most recent hearing.

Two said he has bipolar disorder but one said it doesn’t impact his ability to know right from wrong.

The third psychologist said Brown doesn’t have a serious mental illness.

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