A Brooklyn father is accused of killing his one-year-old daughter, dismembering her, and feeding her to the family’s pit bull. Serenity Brown vanished in 2006. However, her mother did not report her missing until 2011. Three years later, authorities are still trying to determine exactly what happened to the little girl.

Although the incident allegedly happened in 2006, Serenity’s mother, Paula Johnson, failed to report the crime for five years. In 2011, Social workers visited the family’s home as Johnson’s 12-year-old son has been skipping school. The workers became concerned as Serenity was listed as a resident but was not present.

When questioned about her daughter’s whereabouts, Johnson said her daughter was staying with relatives. The story did not match county records, as Johnson continued to collect public assistance for the absent child.

Johnson eventually told detectives with the New York Police Department her chilling tale. She confessed that Serenity was killed at the hands of her father.

Paula Johnson said she was reading Serenity a story in preparation for bedtime. As the child was enjoying the story she began to laugh. Johnson said Serenity’s father, Edward Brown, became inexplicably enraged about the child’s laughter.

According to Johnson, Brown flew into a rage, hitting Serenity in the chest with a closed fist. The blow left the child unresponsive. Johnson said she was holding the child in her arms when Brown grabbed Serenity and took her into another room.

As reported by Latin Times, Johnson was unsure whether Serenity survived the assault. However, Brown ordered her to stay inside the bedroom as he dealt with the situation. Johnson said Brown turned up the radio so she could not hear what was happening. According to reports, after the father killed his daughter he did the unthinkable.

Johnson said while she was shut in the bedroom, Brown placed his daughter’s body in the bathtub. He then used a kitchen knife to carve her body into small pieces so he could feed her to the family’s pit bull. New York Daily News reports the father covered his crime by later executing the dog.

Heather Scipio, who currently resides in the family’s former apartment, said police have searched the home five times:

“They would come in here, looking in this closet, in that closet, in the bathroom, on the floor searching for evidence… two of them here each time, for about 30 minutes… hoping to find something… They told me what happened here, that a little girl died.”

Although Brown is a person of interest, it will be difficult to prove the father killed his daughter. Authorities continue to investigate the allegations. However, the evidence may no longer exist.

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