5 days ago
'Saddest bodycam ever' shows mom howl on learning babysitter had just 'murdered' her infant
Horrifying police bodycam footage captured a stricken mother's primal cry of grief as she realized her 10-month-old baby girl had died under the care of her babysitter.
The tear-jerking moment unfolded on June 26, 2024, in Pekin, Illinois, when Branda Nichelle, the mother of little Sylvie Zacovic, broke down outside the home of her infant daughter's babysitter, Makenna Rhodes, 22.
Rhodes is set to go on trial for murder in October, with bodycam footage unearthed by Body Cam Edition likely to become central to the shocking case.
Nichelle was seen in the footage racing from her workplace after Rhodes called her to say Sylvie was found unresponsive in her cot, with paramedics and police already gathered at the home.
As she approached Rhodes' home, Nichelle began screaming as she was told that Sylvie was found in gravely serious condition, unresponsive and being taken to hospital.
'Oh my god, oh my god,' she wailed in the bodycam footage. 'She's just... oh my god.'
Rhodes tried to hug her, but Nichelle brushed her off before getting into a police cruiser to get to hospital.
Sylvie was tragically pronounced dead 30 minutes later, and police were seen immediately raising suspicions about Rhodes, saying she appeared 'too calm' as the chaos was unfolding.
In separate police footage that same day, Rhodes and her boyfriend were seen being interrogated as investigators realized Sylvie's death may not have been a tragic accident.
In the interrogation rooms, cops separated Rhodes and her boyfriend, who is not named, to grill them over the fateful morning where Sylvie was found unresponsive.
Rhodes denied having any involvement in the infant's death, but repeatedly told investigators that the child had been 'fussy' and refused to sleep.
She had a total of four children in her care that day, including her own infant son, and insisted to investigators that she had left Sylvie in her boyfriend's care 'for around 10 minutes' before the child was found unresponsive at around 10am that day.
But he maintained that he had been asleep until Rhodes woke him up in a panic, and after cops accused him of lying, he brought up text messages Rhodes had sent him from inside the police station trying to get their story straight.
'I told (the investigator) you had Sylvie for 10 mins,' Rhodes texted him.
He responded: 'I told her I didn't have her or seen her today.'
'Just say you did,' she sent back, to which he responded: 'I'm not lying, Kenna.'
With suspicions heightened, police let the young couple leave, but the case took a dark turn just two days later when an autopsy was carried out on Sylvie.
A forensic pathologist found that Sylvie's cause of death was asphyxiation, and she suffered abrasions on the inside of her upper lip, injuries consistent with pressure being applied to her face.
Rhodes was arrested soon after, and was seen in the bodycam footage repeatedly telling cops she was 'scared' as she was handcuffed and charged with murder.
In a probable cause affidavit, Rhodes later admitted to suffocating Sylvie with a 'lovey' - a small blanket attached to a stuffed animal - as she forced a pacifier into her mouth.
Rhodes reportedly confessed to holding the blanket against Sylvie's face until she closed her eyes and stopped crying.
The young babysitter 'admitted she was overwhelmed', the affidavit stated, and conceded that her claims that her boyfriend had been with the baby at the time was made up, saying she 'was the only one in the room. .
Her boyfriend was never charged with any wrongdoing.
Following her arrest, a judge denied Rhodes bond, keeping her in jail as officials said they were fearful that she posed a threat to her own child.
During the course of the investigation, it was also allegedly found that another child in Rhodes' care suffered a broken arm in a separate incident.
Rhodes' trial has been set to begin on October 7, and she has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she faces up to 100 years behind bars.
On the one-year anniversary of Sylvie's tragic death, Nichelle shared a heartbreaking tribute to social media, saying the moment she was seen on bodycam footage screaming was 'the worst day of my life'.
'There are no words for how much I miss her. I will never get to see my baby girl's smile again, hear her laugh, or watch her take her first steps,' she wrote.
'A year ago today was the last time I entered her room. Her door has remained closed ever since. Sometimes, I forget the room is even there—a space frozen in time. A year ago today was also the last time I held my baby and kissed her. That day, everything changed.'
'I hate that someone else's actions caused this. My daughter is gone because of what someone else did—and all we can do now is hope that justice is served.'
