Kevin James: Babysitter defends stepson accused of drowning boy in her care, claims 'devil came' into him

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BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: The mother of a Brooklyn man accused of assaulting and drowning a neighbor's three-year-old child while he was watching the child says, "The whole family is sad," and she feels "ashamed" of her son.

The city medical examiner declared the death of little Denim Brown inside an East Flatbush apartment building on Wednesday, March 20 and Kevin James, 29, is charged with murder and assault in connection with it.

Denim Brown died from multiple blunt-force trauma injuries

The senseless crime has devastated the accused killer's family. James' mother told the New York Post, "It's the devil came into my son and did that." She asked not to be named and went on to say, “That’s not him. I feel horrible. The whole family is taking it hard. We have not eaten at all,” she added.

James was ordered held without bail after being charged with second-degree murder, second-degree assault, and endangering the welfare of a child on Tuesday, March 19. He was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

Brown passed away from "multiple blunt force trauma injuries to the face and body" and pulmonary edema, or drowning, according to a criminal complaint submitted by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

The slain toddler’s mom further stated, “I’m trying to get through it. I don’t want to speak at the moment.” The 58-year-old mother of James, however, claimed that her partner, Michael, had been given the task of watching Brown.

However, when his stepson started playing with the toddler, Michael went into the bedroom, not realizing that he had instead taken the young victim next door into an empty apartment.

Kevin James' mother speaks out on the incident

According to his mother, Michael believed his stepson and the child were playing in the living room when he heard "voices." “The apartment opposite to me is empty. Nobody lives there,” his mom said.

“The door was pulled up, not locked. Kevin took Brown in there. Nobody knew. All this time Michael thought they were in the living room. He didn’t realize there was silence. Kevin took Brown to the empty apartment.”

She claimed that after realizing Brown was missing, Michael and James' brother started frantically looking for the boy inside the building until they came across the graphic evidence.

“When [her other son] was coming back, he saw water at the elevator coming from the apartment,” James' mother said. “Something just told him to go look in 4G. He turned the knob and it opened. He went in to look around and he saw the baby in the tub."

“He pulled the baby out. He knocked on 4H, telling his younger brother to open the door,” she said. “He rushed in with the baby and started giving him mouth-to-mouth. Michael pushed him away and started doing chest compressions. He thought he could do it better.”

They dialed 911, but it was too late; according to authorities, Brown was taken to Kings County Hospital and later declared dead.

“When they told me they found Denim and he was unresponsive, I started bawling. I fell to the floor screaming,” James’ mother said.

“I rushed home. I paid a co-worker $200 to cover my shift and $45 for an Uber to come home. On my way home, my sister called and said the baby died. I was going crazy. I screamed so loud, the driver swerved. When I got home, cops were all over," she stated.

“They said Kevin was downstairs. They knocked on my door. They asked him, ‘Do you know this woman?’ He told them, ‘I’ve never seen her a day in my life.’ He lives with me,” she added.

She claimed that after her son started using the synthetic drug K-2, his life took a turn for the worse. “He started smoking that thing two years ago. He worked at the Bowery Mission,” she said.

James' mother continued, “A year and a half ago, they gave him an ultimatum — either go to a program or get fired. He picked the program. When he came back, I really didn’t see a big change. His mental state was not right.”

She confronted her son about his job about two weeks ago. “I said, Kevin, what happened? He said, I quit.”