Manuela Ozuna is a woman who abused and neglected her children Bruno and Keisha to the point where the latter died of malnutrition, dehydration and prolonged physical abuse.
History[]
As a child, Manuela was abused by her mother, who frequently beat her. This left her cold towards her own children and frequently punished them with abuse for misbehaving, such as starving them and depriving them of water by locking them in a cage. One night, while Manuela was out in the streets begging for money, Bruno escaped from his house after a lack of food and water being available in his own home. He was eventually found in a bodega and the Special Victims Unit were called in. After finding Manuela's address, the detectives found Keisha locked in a cage unconscious and in a critical condition. Tutuola eventually found Manuela begging for money in a rundown part of town and arrested her, showing his disgust towards her.
During interrogation, Manuela showed no remorse for her actions, even telling a disgusted Rollins and Tutuola that if Keisha would stop crying and shut up, she'd get some food and put the blame on Keisha. Benson and Carisi soon told Rollins and Tutuola that Keisha died due to the abuse and that Manuela was now a murderer. After being charged, Manuela was sent to prison but got to say goodbye to Bruno. Manuela asked Tutuola what would happen to Bruno, but Tutuola, who was still disgusted by Manuela's actions, showed no sympathy for her and told her that Bruno was young and if he is lucky, he'd forget about his cruel mother and what she did to him. (SVU: "Institutional Fail")