The mother of 7-year-old Julissia Batties admitted Wednesday that she fatally beat her tiny daughter to death in their Bronx apartment in 2021, but her son, who is charged with molesting his younger sister, will be released.
Navasia Jones, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter as part of a deal with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office to accept full responsibility for Julissia’s death — and to clear her son, Paul Fine Jr., of the girl’s death and alleged sexual assault.
“It’s anticipated that a motion to dismiss will be filed on Friday,” Fine’s lawyer, Deveraux Cannick, said over the phone. “Once the motion is filed, the issue of bail will be moot because the charges will be dismissed, the records will be sealed, and Paul Fine, Jr will be free of all charges.
“It’s a done deal, but it’s a matter of formality that the motion must be officially filed and received by the court,” Cannick told reporters.
Meanwhile, Jones pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in exchange for a 15-year sentence.
Jones’ lawyer, Edward Sapone, hinted outside of court that “a certain nature and quality” of the evidence in the case “could have presented a problem” for prosecutors if the case had gone to trial — without going into specifics.
“So we thought about it, we negotiated, and we thought that ultimately, the certainty of a 15-year sentence would be the way to go for her,” according to him.
A spokesperson for Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark declined to comment on the case against Fine, which is scheduled for a hearing on Friday.
Julissia’s father, Julius Batties, told The Post in a phone interview that he thought the 15-year prison sentence was too light and wanted Jones imprisoned for life.
“It makes me angry because she got away with murder and now has her son back. “I don’t get my daughter back,” said the grieving father, who had previously sat in court wearing a pendant with her daughter’s picture on it.
“I barely looked at her—after what she did? “I do not want to remember her,” he said of Jones. “I’m very much destroyed because I’ll never get to see my daughter again.”
However, he made a point of thanking the district attorney and the detectives on the case, saying, “They tried their best.”
On August 10, 2021, police discovered Julissia’s battered body in Jones’ apartment at the New York City Housing Authority’s Mitchel Houses, which prompted an investigation into Jones.
Jones told police that her young daughter fell and hit her head on a desk.
Fine was arrested in June 2022 for the girl’s death after allegedly admitting to sexually abusing her.
Fine, who is charged with murder, assault, and sexual abuse, allegedly admitted during questioning that he punched his sister eight times in the face while their mother was at the store around 5 a.m.
Hours later, he allegedly claimed Julissia threw up and passed out, prompting his 35-year-old mother to call 911.
Jones was arrested last year, nearly three years to the day after Julissia died.
The coroner ruled the case a homicide after stating that she died of “blunt force abdominal trauma.”
“Mom and brother are both culpable,” according to a senior police official. “They both had a role in it, but who delivered the fatal blow is not clear.”
The case shocked New York City and sparked accusations that the city’s Administration of Children’s Services failed the girl by returning her to her mother’s home, which had a history of violence and abuse — and where she was eventually brutally murdered.
According to sources, cops have been called to the apartment in the city’s public housing complex on Alexander Avenue six times in the last three years, and the mother has covered for the teen boy on at least one of them.
According to sources, the most recent call took place in March 2020.
In a heartbreaking audio recording obtained by The Post, young Julissia sobbed uncontrollably and begged her grandmother not to send her on a court-ordered weekend visit with her mother.
Despite her protests, Julissia was taken to see her mother, who had lost custody of the girl at birth, along with four sons, due to alleged neglect and physical abuse.
Despite objections from her grandmother and a court-appointed lawyer, the city Administration for Children’s Services returned Julissia to her mother on June 21.
Yolanda Davis, Julissia’s grandmother, burst into tears in court on Wednesday after Jones admitted to killing the girl.
