Prosecutors drop charges against slain children's mother

TAMPA — Prosecutors have dropped a cocaine charge against the mother of two teenagers who were shot and killed during a June home invasion robbery.

A lawyer for Judy Brito said authorities realized they could not prove that the cocaine they found in the home she rented along with two men belonged to her.

"It strictly had to do with the letter of the law," said Tampa attorney Ricky Martinez.

Brito's two children, Kiara, 16, and Jeremi, 13, were shot and killed during a home invasion robbery in early June. Police have said the home was targeted.

Tavari Grant, 18, and Charles Waits, 19, were charged with first-degree murder in the case. They pleaded not guilty.

Brito was not at home during the shooting.

Last October, four months after her children were killed, family members had called Hillsborough deputies and said they were worried about Brito's well-being.

Deputies thought Brito was planning to commit suicide and took her in under the Baker Act.

Martinez said one of the deputies did a "security sweep" to make sure no one else was in the home and noticed an open cigarette box with a small plastic bag of cocaine under a bed.

The bedroom where the drugs were found belonged to one of Brito's two roommates, Martinez said, and his client "adamantly denied" it was hers.

He said Brito no longer lives with the two men.

Hillsborough State Attorney's Office spokesman Mark Cox said the fact that the home was jointly occupied made the case difficult to prove.

"We couldn't tie the drugs to her," Cox said.

Martinez said he had Brito take weekly drug tests at her own expense. He said she passed all of them.

He said Brito, who does not work, had started a foundation in her children's names to raise money for scholarships. But donations dried up quickly after her arrest on the cocaine charge, he said.

"She's starting to feel like she can get back on track," he said.

Reach Jodie Tillman at jtillman@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374.