Babysitter Confessed to Sexually Assaulting and Killing 2-Year-Old: Police

interrupting. >> No, no. [laughter]. >> 2-year-old Brian Wells was a happy, smiling toddler. But hours after being. left with his mother's boyfriend, that. joy was gone. Brian was [music] dead, and police say what happened to him. wasn't an accident. It was something far. more sinister. The boyfriend eventually. confessed according to police and the. details are beyond [music] chilling. because police say he admitted to. sexually assaulting and strangling this. [music] baby. We are going to break down.

the details of this absolutely. horrifying case and the shocking legal. questions it raises and we're going to. do it all with a trial attorney [music]. who is bringing key insight into how. something like this could happen. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Obviously, this is a story we wanted to. put a spotlight on. It's important to. cover, okay? And the reason that we can. do that is because of the amazing. support that we get from our sponsor, Morgan and Morgan. We're talking about. America's largest personal injury law.

firm, a firm with over a,000 attorneys. They have recovered $25 billion for more. than 500,000 clients. In the past few. months alone, a client in Florida. received $12 million when insurance. offered just $350,000. Out in. Pennsylvania, another client was awarded. $26 million. That is 40 times the. insurers's offer. Morgan and Morgan, they make it easy to fight for what you. deserve. You can even start a claim from. your phone. So, if you're injured, you. can start a claim at. forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. You can click the link below or you can.

scan the QR code on screen. I want to start by warning you that the. details of this story are extremely. disturbing. It is every parent's worst. nightmare. It's the kind of thing that. you tell yourself could never ever. happen to you. You have a St. Louis. mother, Bianca Wells, who left her. 2-year-old son, Brienne, with someone. that she trusted completely, her own. boyfriend, 21-year-old Nico Cotton. She.

went to work believing that her happy, loving little boy was safe and sound. In. fact, I'll tell you what, just look at. this video of Bon that his aunt shared. on Facebook. Okay. This is the vibrant, joyful little boy that his family knew. >> Shake it. [music]. [music]. >> That's the memory that his family is now. left with. Because what happened next is. the stuff of nightmares. On October. 27th, Brian was rushed to the hospital.

unresponsive and later died. And then. came a horrifying revelation from the. police. They say this wasn't an. accident, that the babysitter, the man. that his mother trusted, allegedly. confessed to killing this child. But he. didn't just harm the child. No. Authorities say he sexually assaulted. and strangled this 2-year-old boy. According to a probable cause affidavit, the medical examiner found that Bion had. a lacerated liver. The cause of death. was ruled a homicide from multiple.

internal and asphixial injuries. So, how. does a story that begins with the laugh. of this sweet little boy end like this? We have been digging through the court. documents. We've been digging through. the police reports to try to get just a. picture here, a a clear chronological. picture of what happened, this case. So, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan. Police Department, this all started with. a call for help. October 27th, it's. around 10:40 p.m. Police were called to. a house in the Mark Twain neighborhood. for a 2-year-old boy who was.

unresponsive. Officials arrive, they. rush this child, who again was. identified as Brienne Wells, to a nearby. hospital where he was declared deceased. And now, there are a few critical. details here that we want to talk about. because police confirmed to local outlet. Fox 2 that the two adults who were with. Bion were not his parents. We have. learned that this call came from a house. where the child didn't even live. According to a probable cause statement, the man watching him again was Bianca. Well's boyfriend, 21-year-old Nico. Cotton. And police say Cotton told them.

he was the quote sole caregiver for the. child on October 27th and had been there. for several days. Now, initially the. child abuse unit took over the. investigation, deeming the circumstances. suspicious. The adults present, including Cotton, they were questioned. and released pending that investigation. But the break in the case came from the. medical examiner's report two days. later. Why? October 29th, the medical. examiner's office said that the little. boy's body had evidence of strangulation. as well as other injuries. The report.

ruled the death a homicide, finding. Bannon died from quote multiple internal. and asphixial injuries, including a. lacerated liver, and also showed signs. of sexual assault. So with this. evidence, the case was then transferred. to homicide detectives. And faced with. these findings, Nico Cotton turned. himself in on October 30th. It was then, according to the probable cause. affidavit, that he allegedly confessed, admitting to sexually assaulting and. strangling Brian. Now, he has since been. charged with seconddegree murder,

forcible sodomy, statutory sodomy, abuse. of a child, resulting in death. And it. is in that probable cause affidavit. where the alleged confession becomes. even more disturbing and even more. graphic and even more specific. The. document states that after being read. his rights, the defendant, Nico Cotton, and that progression is important, right? Allegedly saying this, after. being read his rights, that that is when. he didn't just admit to the assault, he. detailed it. And this is so beyond.

disgusting and graphic that we're not. going to read you the whole thing in its. entirety, but essentially, police claim. that Cotton engaged in sexual activity. with this child, this 2-year-old child. And during that activity, he quote bit. and strangled the child. The child's. death was the result of the multiple. injuries he suffered during the sexual. assault. It is a level of alleged. brutality that is almost impossible to. comprehend, especially when you remember.

again that vibrant little boy at the. center of it. So following Bon's tragic. passing, his aunt shared these videos to. show the world who this little boy was. >> [laughter]. [crying]. >> Why do you love like a grown man? >> No. >> Hey,

shake it. [music]. >> again. And that laugh, those clapping. hands, this is the child that his family. is now forced to mourn. In her grief, Bannon's mother, Bianca Wells, told KM. Ov that this feels like something out of. the TV shows that she watches, saying, "I watch Law and Order all day, so to. feel like this is me and this is my. baby, the happiest baby in the world. He.

doesn't deserve this. Feels like my. heart is shattered. It doesn't feel like. I have air in my lungs right now." She. also shared a message for other. families, a warning born from her own. tragedy, saying, "Support your family. Be there for them because you could be. like me and have nothing." She also told. the outlet that one of the only comforts. she has is that Brienne is in a better. place with his father. The boy's. godmother, Latoya Johnston, told the St. Louis Dispatch that Wells didn't have. much support. That's why she left him. with someone she trusted while she.

worked long shifts. Johnston told the. paper, quote, "She was not a bad mom. She was a trying mom. There's no book on. parenting. There's no foundation of. knowing how to take care of a child. She. was trying and she had the love and. support of people trying to help her. learn. Now, Nico Cotton remains in. custody again facing these charges of. seconddegree murder, forcible sodomy, statutory sodomy, abuse of a child. resulting in death. I think it's. important once again to remember to say. what these charges are and now we want. to talk about it. I want to bring in. right now trial attorney Ally Young. Uh. Ally, thank you so much for taking the.

time. It's always good to see you. This. is an awful case on so many different. levels. And you know, when you think. about these accusations, when you think. about these charges, it almost seems. unbelievable. It's hard to grasp it. It's hard to wrap your mind around. someone allegedly doing this to someone. else. But if you start with this alleged. confession, right? You have a defendant. allegedly confessing to this, providing. details about this. Does that is that. just handing the prosecution a. conviction on a silver platter? And you.

also have to wonder why would someone. confess to this? I mean, I'm for this. case, thank goodness, you know, if if he. really did this, you get a conviction. easily in a terrible situation. Probably. the cleanest resolution you can have. But isn't it interesting that he would. allegedly confess to this and and why he. would do it? >> Yeah. I mean, you you'd hope that this. will help put a nail in the coffin of a. conviction here on all counts. Um, but. at the same time, you have to wonder why.

just walk in and give a Miranda. statement and say, "Yeah, you did. exactly what they are alleging you did. to this young boy." It's heinous. It's. hard to understand and it just hurts. people's hearts that that read the the. probable cause statement, the charging. document, that read any news articles. regarding it. So, it definitely leaves. you wondering why he would just make a. full confession to it. Do defense. attorneys say, "Hey, even if the police. say that he confessed, we can try to.

show coercion, his mental state." I. mentioned the progression, right? If. he's being if he allegedly confesses. after being read his Miranda rightites, do they try to say, "Hey, the Miranda. rightites weren't read properly. He. didn't hear them. He didn't understand. them." I What are avenues that we could. potentially expect from a defense. attorney? >> Sure. we'd look towards whether or not. the Miranda warnings were given. appropriately um first off. So then you. would hope that the police gave them at. the appropriate time. They weren't.

asking guilt-seeking questions prior to. um giving Miranda. But then afterwards, we would look to see what kind of the. what the interview looks like. I mean, is the interview um open-ended and. letting the defendant or a potential. defendant kind of just give his story? Are they force-feeding him these. answers? Um, you'd look to see if it's a. false confession. I mean, we hear about. that um on datine all the time, things. like that about um a false confession. being given because.

uh of a low IQ, a low um understanding. or cognitive ability to um really uh. speak on behalf of oneself. And so if a. police officer or detective is sitting. in an interview being very forceful with. someone with low cognitive abilities um. and insisting that they did something um. over and over and over again for a. lengthy period of time, we might look to.

see if that uh that confession was. coerced or not not voluntary as we would. say. >> But even if you put the confession to. the side, the evidence seems. overwhelming aside from where the call. was placed, right? the call. Um, you. know, that in and of itself, this this. young boy, this baby essentially was, you know, where where he was, the. medical evidence overwhelming, strangulation, lacerated liver, signs of. sexual assault. When we talk about this.

uh in the a child victim as opposed to. an adult victim, there are less. alternative reasonable explanations for. why this would unless they're saying the. medical evidence is completely wrong. Right. we we're going to bring in our. own medical examiner, our own. pathologist to say this, you know, these. conditions didn't exist. How does a. defense attorney fight against this? It. seems pretty overwhelming. No, >> no, there's no denying that this child. was abused severely. I mean, there's not. a medical expert in in the state of.

Missouri that's going to come in and. deny that this child was abused. what. the defense attorney would look to do if. they're going to uh try and fight these. charges is whether or not the um. defendant had sole custody of the child. during the the entire course of when the. uh abuse could have occurred. So um I. know in the probable cause statement it. does say that he says he had sold. custody of the child for a number of. days. Um but we would look to see if.

that's an accurate statement or not. Um, we would look to see if there was anyone. else that could possibly do this. Um, the the defendant taking the child to um. the hospital would help in the. defendant's favor, showing, okay, maybe. he didn't actually do that if he has the. wherewithal or the um uh the compassion. to take the child to the hospital. seeking help for what what's going on. with him. And what do you make of the. fact that just going back to something I.

mentioned? I mean, this didn't happen in. the child's home. There were other. adults present. They weren't his. parents. How does that play into the. prosecution's narrative and theory of. the case? And we should be thinking. about that. >> The the prosecution on all counts has to. prove beyond a reasonable doubt that. this defendant, Mr. Cotton, is the only. one that did this, that nobody else. helped or could have been responsible. for the crime that was committed. And so. his confession certainly helps, but any. defense attorney is going to try and.

poke holes into that story immediately. >> And you wonder about other people who. are present, cooperating witnesses, you. know, maybe a defendant of some kind. Um, it's just it's it's hard to grasp. grasp it. Okay. Let me ask you about the. charges here. So, he's charged Cotton's. charged with secondderee second degree. murder, not first-degree murder. Can you. break down the difference there? >> Sure. So, first-degree murder, there's. got to be some deliberation. Um it's. it's a men's rehea issue. Um it's the. men's rehea of did he knowingly or was.

he certainly aware that he the conduct. that he was doing was going to cause the. uh victim to die. That's a that's a. first-degree murder case. That is a hard. case to prove in um in a case like this. where there's um not a whole lot of. evidence outside of the the sexual. assault. Um, I think the strangulation. could get you there if you were really. wanting to go for the first-degree.

murder and possibly the death penalty. Um, the uh the way to get there would be. to show that, hey, the conduct that the. defendant was doing was almost certain. to cause the death of the victim. And we. know that because he strangled the. victim, or at least that's what he. admits to doing. Um, and the affixiation. um injuries would would point to that. Um but then seconddegree murder is a. easier case for the prosecutor to make. because it just um he just has to show.

that for the purpose of causing serious. physical injury. Um the the victim died. because of the the the defendant's. actions. >> And you charge abuse of a child. resulting in death. That's like at the. very least you can convict them on that. Right. Sometimes you see these in. prosecutions. It may be a lesser charge, an important charge, a felony, nonetheless, but it's almost as if if a. jury were not to find him guilty of. murder or sodomy, which we'll talk about. in a second. You throw that charge in as.

as at the very least, right? >> Sure. And a common I would say abuse or. neglect of a child in this situation is. not necessarily um a lesser charge. because based off the statute in. Missouri um murder in the second degree. is a range of punishment of anywhere. from 10 to 30 years which is a a 30-year. sentence is a life imprisonment. Right. Right. Uh abuse of neglect of a child is. the same a 10 to 30ear sentence. However, under the statute, um if a.

child dies as a result of the. defendant's conduct, the the defendant. is not eligible for probation and parole. until they've served not less than 15. years of that sentence. So, they have to. have at least a 15-year sentence on that. class A felony of abuse of neglect of a. child. On murder, too, there's no. minimum as far as the 10 to 30 range. I. >> I appreciate you making that. distinction. It's important. Um talk to. me about forcible sodomy and statutory. sodomy. Aside from the human perspective.

of it's hard to grasp my my my head. around that when you're talking about a. young child and how disgusting that is. legally speaking why charge two. different counts of sodomy here. >> Sure. There it's kind of in my opinion. it's kind of just throwing the kitchen. sink at them. Um they're the same exact. charge outside of just one different. element of each side. So on sodomy in. the first degree, it's an unclassified. felony, but it's charged as an.

aggravated offense. So under that count, they have to prove forcible compulsion. In order to do that, they just have to. show that physical force was used to. overcome a reasonable resistance. So it. would be reasonable for anyone to. imagine that a victim, a child, anyone. else in that position would have used. some sort of resistance to the. defendant's conduct. So you get there. pretty easily. But under the uh under a. subsection, if you um if you if a. prosecutor can prove aggravated sexual.

offense, it's a minimum term of. imprisonment of 10 years. The other. caveat to that is it has to be run. consecutive to any other counts that are. in the indictment. So it would have to. be run consecutive to the amount of time. that he gets in count one, count two, and count four. And then similarly in. the statutory sodomy count, the. prosecutor just has to show obviously. the age of the child. And under this. subsection, because he's under the age. of 12, it's a lifetime or not to be less.

than 10 years. And so under those two. unclassified felonies, they both have to. be run consecutive to one another. So on. count three, he can do no less than 10. on that one. has to be run consecutive. to the no less than 15 on the count two, has to be run consecutive to the 10 to. 30 on count one, and then has to be run. consecutive to whatever uh no less than. 10 on count four. So, the amount of time. that he's looking at just by these four.

counts based off of the way the statute. reads in Missouri, it's a large amount. of time just based off the minimum. >> Yeah. And if he did this, good. Good. That's exactly what he deserves. Um, now. he was in, our understanding is he's. initially questioned and released, then. turned himself in later on. Is that an. interesting timeline to use? Does that. raise questions about how investigators. maybe handle suspicious deaths before. they have official confirmation there. was foul play here? >> It's not unusual, especially in cases.

like this with um uh a significant. amount of medical uh evidence that is. going to have to be gathered and turned. over to the prosecutor. There's going to. be a sane exam done, which is a sexual. assault examination. Maybe they recover. DNA from the sexual assault examination. And then just from the the injuries that. a medical examiner would observe from. the child, there has to be a a. determination of a homicide prior to uh. issuing an arrest warrant.

>> You know, one of the tragic aspects of. this, Ally, and you cover a lot of these. cases, is this mother was put in a very. tough position. Um, and there's been, you know, I mentioned before when you. have a lack of resources, maybe a lack. of support, you're a mother who has to. work, who do you trust your child with? This is a horrible, horrible case. It is. a tragedy. Our hearts go out to this. mother, to this family. I don't even. know what the lesson is here. I don't. even know what could have been done. differently. When I saw this case, it's.

like, how could you imagine something. like this would happen? And I don't know. what the takeaway is. >> I mean, Jesse, the last time you and I. spoke, it was about a daycare worker uh. killing a killing a child in a daycare. here in Missouri. And now we're talking. about a family friend. Some reports say. it's her boyfriend killing her own child. in the most heinous of ways. The only. lesson as a mother that I take away is. protect my own child. I'm the only. person I can trust to protect my own.

child. It's hard. It's devastating. And. it's something that that no mother. should ever have to go through, no. family should ever have to go through. And I can't imagine the grief and the. just the overwhelming guilt that she's. going to be feeling for the rest of her. life. She knows that she left her child. with somebody that did heinous things to. her child and she will no longer have. her child. >> And I think about this, if this goes to. trial, she would have to testify. And. what a compelling witness she would be.

for the prosecution. What would the. defense do? The defense would say you. you trusted Mr. Cotton, right? I mean, you felt confident enough to leave your. your baby in his hands, right? I mean, I. I don't know what that would even look. like. And aside from the pain and the. trauma of her having to testify in a. trial like this, but I I imagine that's. what it would look like. Unless you could use her to establish. that there were other people that had uh. care and possession of the child, then. this may be a witness that the defense.

attorney stands up and says, "I have no. questions for this witness.". >> Yeah, it's probably a good move. Um, we'll see if this even goes to trial. Uh, Ally Young, horrible case, but thank. you so much for breaking it down for us. and understanding what uh Mr. Cotton. could be facing. Really, really. appreciate it. >> Thank you. [music] And that's all we. have for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us. And as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever [music] you should get your.

podcast. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak. to you next time.