NICHOLAS ODZE - 4 yo (2009) - Coral Springs FL PART II

A South Florida mother arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of her young child says she's not guilty.

Raisa Bernabe, who is out of jail on bond, did not appear at her court
hearing Monday morning. Instead, her lawyer entered a written plea of
not guilty.

Bernabe is accused of giving a prescription drug to her four year old
son Nicholas Odze last September. The boy's father found him unconscious
in their Coral Springs apartment.

The Broward Medical Examiner's Office ruled that Nicholas died from an
overdose of eszopiclone, a prescription sleep aid sold under the brand
name Lunesta.

Toxicology tests also found the child had ingested ibuprofen and the
prescription pain substances oxycodone and oxymorphone before his death,
according to a medical examiner report.

According to the police report, Bernabe admitted that she gave her son a
Lunesta pill the night of Sept. 9 because he had not been able to stay
asleep the previous two nights.

The boy's mother also told police that after giving her son the Lunesta pill she left the child and went into the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later she "found him in the master bedroom with several
open prescription pill bottles." The mother told police she did not know
if the child ingested any of the pills.

The child's father, Allan Odze, found the toddler unresponsive in his bed the next morning, police said.

The Medical Examiner's Office classified the toddler's death a homicide, based on Bernabe's statements.

When detectives searched the family's apartment on September 10th, they
found 68 prescription pill bottles, according to court records. Nearly
all the medications, including the Lunesta, had been prescribed to Odze.


The drug has not been tested in children and is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for pediatric use.

In addition to manslaughter, Bernabe also has been charged with delivery
of a controlled substance to a minor and knowing sale or transfer of
prescription drug to an unauthorized person, authorities said.

It's a pity they haven't charged her with 1st degree murder because I don't believe Nicholas took the other pills by himself. IMO Raisa gave him all of them, not just the Lunesta she admitted to.

Maid of the Mer~ Thanks my little underwater friend for keeping an eye on this one. I don't know where you are getting those fancy charts but keep 'em coming!

TomTerrific0420 wrote:Maid of the Mer~ Thanks my little underwater friend for keeping an eye on this one. I don't know where you are getting those fancy charts but keep 'em coming!

Broward County Clerk Of The Courts
http://www.clerk-17th-flcourts.org/Clerkwebsite/BCCOC2/Pubsearch/CaseSearch.aspx?SelectCourt=true&DisplayCitation=yes&DisplayType=Criminal

kiwimom wrote:It's a pity they haven't charged her with 1st degree murder because I don't believe Nicholas took the other pills by himself. IMO Raisa gave him all of them, not just the Lunesta she admitted to.

I have a hard time taking pills if I dont have enough water to take them with. The second you taste the horrible taste you want to spit them out. I could not imagine a child sitting there and sticking pills in his mouth and not spitting them out the second that taste hit their tongues. Also who the heck leaves medication where just anyone can get to them?? My medicine cabinet in the kitchen is up high with a child safety lock so my son has no way of getting in there. When my 3 yr old doesnt want to go to sleep I wait up w/him. I read a book, put on some cartoons and turn off the light etc. Then when hes finally asleep I go to bed. But I guess that is only what a normal/sane person would do?? I dont think this was just an irresponsible act either. I think it was intended. so sad :(

You are so right Tammers! You may have missed the interaction we had with the suspect earlier in the case. Look through Part I and read some of her responses to our questions.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:You are so right Tammers! You may have missed the interaction we had with the suspect earlier in the case. Look through Part I and read some of her responses to our questions.

WOW. My jaw was dropped the entire time. It seems like she cares more about herself than anything. :( Bottom line is the child should have NEVER been given a sleeping aid, especially lunesta. And he should have NEVER been able to get into the other narcotics. And like I said. A kid wont just sit there and chew/eat pills. My son wont even take his vitamins half the time w/o me having to convince him lol. I am off work now and off to bed. You all have a wonderful day :)

I believe Raisa gave Nicholas the Lunesta as she has admitted to. I am weary on her giving the other meds to him. Did anyone ever think that there were so many drugs in that home that both parents were out of it have the time? The blame should not only be on Raisa. Why were there so many bottles? Who prescribed all these drugs to Alan Odze? How did he obtain all these drugs? I know Alan Odze he is not an innocent person. I believe that there is more that went on in that home than we all know. It is unfortunate that a little boys life was taken. I am not even sure this little boy had a chance in life with such parents. I have a funny feeling there was some lies on what actually went down in that house that day. Why was Raisa all beat up the last time she was arrested? hmmmm Raisa got charged with murder however, I think Alan Odze slid under the police. He knows how to work the system and can lie like the best of them. He should have been looked at more closely. There are things that this guy has done in his past that totally leads me to believe that not only did he abuse Raisa that he also made Raisa confess to it all so that she would not get deported. Again, we do not know what went on but it isn't this cut and dry. I know what he is capable of and it isn't pretty and it started when he was with NYPD.

Welcome Anon. We don't believe Raisa was coerced into confessing because she has been on here defending her actions many times for giving Nicholas Lunesta. I can't imagine anyone needing 68 bottles of prescription pills and wonder if they were selling them. It would be interesting to know if Alan and Raisa took lie detector tests.

anon1234 wrote:I believe Raisa gave Nicholas the Lunesta as she has admitted to. I am weary on her giving the other meds to him. Did anyone ever think that there were so many drugs in that home that both parents were out of it have the time? The blame should not only be on Raisa. Why were there so many bottles? Who prescribed all these drugs to Alan Odze? How did he obtain all these drugs? I know Alan Odze he is not an innocent person. I believe that there is more that went on in that home than we all know. It is unfortunate that a little boys life was taken. I am not even sure this little boy had a chance in life with such parents. I have a funny feeling there was some lies on what actually went down in that house that day. Why was Raisa all beat up the last time she was arrested? hmmmm Raisa got charged with murder however, I think Alan Odze slid under the police. He knows how to work the system and can lie like the best of them. He should have been looked at more closely. There are things that this guy has done in his past that totally leads me to believe that not only did he abuse Raisa that he also made Raisa confess to it all so that she would not get deported. Again, we do not know what went on but it isn't this cut and dry. I know what he is capable of and it isn't pretty and it started when he was with NYPD.

Welcome! We have been following this case for a long time now. Did you know this famiy and Nicholas? We all feel sick about what happened to Nicholas.... what a precious loss! We have long wondered what was going on in that house.

I never knew Nicholas, nor did I know that Alan Odze and Raisa Bernabe had a child. I did not know of this unfortunate child's loss of life until very recently. Yes, I know Alan Odze and I had met Raisa Bernabe. Well, just as I had said previous I do not believe Raisa is the only one at fault for this. I am surprised that Alan Odze was capable of love much less conceiving a child. I find him to not be fond of women, believe it or not he is also very racial. He had issues when he was with NYPD and that never stopped.

anon1234 wrote:I never knew Nicholas, nor did I know that Alan Odze and Raisa Bernabe had a child. I did not know of this unfortunate child's loss of life until very recently. Yes, I know Alan Odze and I had met Raisa Bernabe. Well, just as I had said previous I do not believe Raisa is the only one at fault for this. I am surprised that Alan Odze was capable of love much less conceiving a child. I find him to not be fond of women, believe it or not he is also very racial. He had issues when he was with NYPD and that never stopped.

Did you know him over a long period of time? That would be surprising to me if he were not bragging about a son! You said he has problems with women and is very racial? Were these his issues at the NYPD? It is so great to hear from someone who knows about them first-hand! We feel so awful for poor Nicholas and it is so hard to wrap our minds around what happened to this precious child!

I knew him over a period of a few years. Well, that is great that he was proud that he had a son however, that is not any reason to believe that issues did not exist. As we know of the Casey Anthony case. I am not saying this was intentional but I can not wrap my head around the fact that there were 68 bottles of prescribed drugs in the house and both parents were alert all the time. I never knew of Alan Odze taken medications although many times I thought he should for the way he acted. I have proof of how he had treated women. I had found out information regarding his time with NYPD and I was told it wasn't all good. I know his character however, to maintain my identity I will only give up certain information on a blog. If you believe in Karma this would be a tragic thing that has happened to him possible due to how he has lied so much to people in the past, for his racial prejudices toward others...why??? I do not know those answers. Maybe something changed him after he was injured with NYPD or maybe it was his divorce to his first wife. Those are answers only he has. He in my mind has a lot of mental issues that needed to be addressed a long time ago. Have you ever read any of his articles that he has written about rights to police officers? I am not saying Raisa did not have any either but the Raisa I briefly knew would have been a better person had she not been with this man.

anon1234 wrote:I knew him over a period of a few years. Well, that is great that he was proud that he had a son however, that is not any reason to believe that issues did not exist. As we know of the Casey Anthony case. I am not saying this was intentional but I can not wrap my head around the fact that there were 68 bottles of prescribed drugs in the house and both parents were alert all the time. I never knew of Alan Odze taken medications although many times I thought he should for the way he acted. I have proof of how he had treated women. I had found out information regarding his time with NYPD and I was told it wasn't all good. I know his character however, to maintain my identity I will only give up certain information on a blog. If you believe in Karma this would be a tragic thing that has happened to him possible due to how he has lied so much to people in the past, for his racial prejudices toward others...why??? I do not know those answers. Maybe something changed him after he was injured with NYPD or maybe it was his divorce to his first wife. Those are answers only he has. He in my mind has a lot of mental issues that needed to be addressed a long time ago. Have you ever read any of his articles that he has written about rights to police officers? I am not saying Raisa did not have any either but the Raisa I briefly knew would have been a better person had she not been with this man.

I wasn't saying he was proud that he had a son because I don't know him, only that a normal person wouldn't be able to stop themselves from bragging about a child! We welcome any additional information that people just like you can provide because the news reports lack so much of the total story. We want you to feel comfortable here and only tell us what you are willing to.... Thank-you for sharing what you have with us! I did not realize he had written articles. Those would be very interesting to read if you would be willing to show us where to find them.