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<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2e2020;font-size:14px"><strong>Brittany Cook from Lincoln, Nebraska, left her 22-month-old son to burn next to air heater and ignored his horrific injuries to go gambling at casino </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2e2020;font-size:14px"><strong>Cook, 30, faces <strong>20 years to life in pri</strong>son after she was was arrested and charged with child abuse resulting in death, and her bail set at $1million </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2e2020;font-size:14px"><strong>Baby Rudy Requejo-Ybarra Jr. was declared brain dead by doctors after being found unresponsive in his crib on March 12 </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2e2020;font-size:14px"><strong>The toddler was taken to the hospital after what doctors believe had been weeks of abuse </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2e2020;font-size:14px"><strong>Doctors determined Rudy Requejo-Ybarra Jr. had severe brain swelling and bleeding, in addition to a number of broken bones and other physical ailments </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2e2020;font-size:14px"><strong>Cook&#8217;s boyfriend Joshua Tackett, 32, last week was charged with <strong>child abuse resulting in </strong>death, in addition to two felony gun charge, with bail set at $2m</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color wp-block-heading" style="color:#2e2020;font-size:14px"><strong>Tackett&#8217;s mother was also charged with felony evidence tampering</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Brittany-Cook-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-435329" width="627" height="738"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Brittany Cook, 30, was arrested and charged with child abuse resulting in death, a felony that is punishable by 20 years to life in prison</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>A Nebraska woman has been charged for her alleged role in the death of her infant, who died last week following months of suspected abuse.<br>Brittany Cook, 30, repeatedly ignored obvious signs of abuse displayed on her late son&#8217;s body up until the day that she finally brought him to the hospital on March 12, when suspected abuse at the hands of Cook&#8217;s boyfriend of two months, Joshua Tackett, had left 22-month-old Rudy Requejo-Ybarra Jr., brain dead, according to court filings.<br>Cook has other three children, aged 3, 4, and 10. A day prior to being confirmed brain dead, Cook and her boyfriend had abandoned the toddler with Cook&#8217;s other young children to go to a casino, police said. <br> Doctors determined the child had suffered &#8216;severe brain swelling and bleeding, retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes, several broken ribs, injuries to his genital area and two fractures to his left tibia,&#8217; prior to his death.<br>There were bruises all over his body and he had &#8216;pattern injuries&#8217; that investigators ultimately matched to the grill of a space heater that Cook had left running while she took a shower on March 11. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Joshua-Tackett-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-435330" width="690" height="770"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Joshua Tackett, 32, was also charged with the same crime, in addition to two felony gun charges</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>Cook, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was charged with child abuse resulting in death, a felony that is punishable by 20 years to life in prison. Her bail has been set at $1million.<br>Tackett, 32, was also charged last week with the same crime, in addition to two felony gun charges and his bail set at $2 million. <br>His mother Karen Vestecka, 58, was also charged with of felony evidence tampering <br>Michael Barry, an investigator with the Lincoln Police, said Cook brought her son to the hospital on March 12 with &#8216;numerous bruises and injuries.&#8217;<br>The toddler was then taken by ambulance to the Children&#8217;s Hospital in Omaha, where physicians determined the full extent of his condition.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rudy-Requejo-Ybarra-Jr-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-435331" width="613" height="1053"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Baby Rudy Requejo-Ybarra Jr. was declared brain dead by doctors after being found unresponsive in his crib on March 12</strong>. <strong>The toddler has many visible injuries including pattern markings on his face and chest from a space heater his mother had left on while she was watching him</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>There were bruises &#8216;all over&#8217; the child&#8217;s body, in addition to the space heater burn marks.<br>His mother initially described several accidents to explain her son&#8217;s injuries, including one on February 18, when Cook claimed her boyfriend has &#8216;passed out&#8217; while holding the 22-month-old and fallen on top of him.<br>She said that she had not taken her son to the doctor following any of the accidents.<br>Cook also said her son fell down a staircase at the apartment she shared with Tackett on March 9, but that he seemed uninjured from the fall.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image-63.png" alt="" class="wp-image-435347" width="767" height="1364"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong> Cook&#8217;s has three other children, aged 3, 4, and 10 &#8211; The night before Rudy Requejo-Ybarra Jr died the children were left alone to watch one another, including the 22-month-old baby, while the couple went to a casino</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>Police allege that Cook moved her four children into Tackett&#8217;s apartment on March 4 and observed as injuries and signs of abuse appeared on her son&#8217;s body.<br>&#8216;Despite noticing these injuries, Cook continues to leaver (her son) in the care of Tackett,&#8217; wrote Barry in the filings.<br>The toddler has many visible injuries including pattern markings on his face and chest from a space heater his mother had left on while she was watching him.<br>The day prior to his hospitalization, police believe cook returned from running errands to find her son with a gash on the back of his head, bleeding onto a blanket, with a front tooth missing.<br>But she did not seek medical attention for the toddler.<br>Instead, said Barry, the couple left the toddler under the supervision of Cook&#8217;s other children went to a casino. <br>In the early hours of the morning on March 12, Cook left her son, who had been sleeping on a hallway floor, with Tackett and went to pick up fast food.<br>When she arrived back at the apartment, Tackett had moved the child to his crib.<br>Cook showered and went to sleep, waking up at 5am to check on Rudy, whom she found face down in his crib. She went back to sleep and didn&#8217;t return to his crib again until 11am after Tackett had discovered the child &#8216;lifeless.&#8217;<br>Cook then bounced on her bed with her son in her arms and took a cold shower with him, but couldn&#8217;t wake him up.<br>Only then, against the objections of Tackett, did she take Rudy to the hospital at 4pm on Match 12 &#8211; five hours after he was found unresponsive.<br>Hospital staff called police, who suspected Tackett was involved with the boy&#8217;s injuries. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rudy-Requejo-Ybarra-Jr-5.png" alt="" class="wp-image-435343" width="804" height="662"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Prior to his death, doctors determined Rudy Requejo-Ybarra Jr [L-R], had &#8216;severe brain swelling and bleeding, retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes, several broken ribs, injuries to his genital area and two fractures to his left tibia&#8217;</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>The police then began surveilling the apartment complex and observed Tackett&#8217;s mother arrive at around 7pm and leave soon after carrying a rifle case.<br>Law enforcement believe the mother, Karen Vestecka, retrieved her son&#8217;s Ruger AR .556 from the apartment in an attempt to protect him from felony gun charges. Tackett is prohibited from owning firearms due to prior felony and domestic violence-related convictions.<br>The woman, 58, was charged with tampering with physical evidence. <br>Cook&#8217;s other three children have been taken into state custody. Cook attended her initial court appearance Wednesday, via Zoom from a Lancaster County Jail cell, Judge Laurie Yardley set her bail at $1 million and barred her from having any contact with any child.</p>

Nebraska mom Brittany Cook, 30, charged with abuse and death of 22-month-old son her boyfriend allegedly killed: She left toddler to burn next to air heater, ignored his injuries and went gambling at casino
