West Allis mother charged in death of 6-year-old son with stab wound
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Prosecutors say a West Allis woman restrained her 6-year-old son in handcuffs for hours at a time, denied him food and refused him medical treatment for severe injuries from abuse, causing his death.
Tasha M. Rockow, 31, was charged Saturday with false imprisonment and chronic child neglect resulting in death. Her son, Hank F. Brown-Rockow, was stabbed in the abdomen and died from blunt-force trauma, prosecutors say.
Rockow is in custody on $151,000 bail, according to Milwaukee County Jail logs.
The boy’s death Sept. 6 follows a year and a half of abuse and neglect, friends and relatives told police.
While Rockow called 911 that day to report her son had fallen on a knife, paramedics, doctors and the medical examiner determined the stabbing must have occurred much earlier, according to a criminal complaint.
The medical examiner also determined the stabbing was not the cause of death. After a separate incident of blunt-force trauma to Brown-Rockow’s abdomen, prosecutors argue, Rockow did not seek medical treatment for her son, causing complications and his slow death over time as he became septic.
More:West Allis police investigating the ‘possible’ stabbing death of a 6-year-old boy
According to the complaint:
Brown-Rockow lived with his father for most of his life and was placed in his mother’s care when his father died in March 2020.
Rockow disliked her former partner and took out her “animosity” on her son, Rockow’s sister believes.
A friend as well as Rockow’s sister reported they were aware of the abuse Rockow-Brown suffered once he was moved to his mother’s house. He was treated “very differently” than her other two children, ages 9 and 10, who had lived with her for years, court documents said.
Brown-Rockow was not allowed to use any furniture and had to stand at the dinner table and eat, while others got to sit, Rockow’s sister reported. He was often denied food. Rockow also would hold hot sauce on a plastic fork on her son’s tongue, causing him to vomit.
He was always dressed in long pants, the same sweater, a mask and a hat to hide extensive bruises and injuries from abuse, even in the summer heat, Rockow’s sister said.
Rockow also forced her son to stand against a wall with his palms against the wall, above shoulder-height, for a half-hour or more at a time.
Rockow treated her son “like a convict,” her sister said.
In July, a new friend of Rockow found the boy handcuffed, with his hands behind his back and his legs shackled, in Rockow’s bedroom. Rockow explained she was punishing him because he stole and played with knives. He was handcuffed for at least three hours.
The friend also observed Rockow’s two other children beating the 6-year-old.
When Rockow called 911 on Sept. 6 to report the stabbing, she told dispatchers the bruises covering his body were from his siblings, who fought with him regularly.
She also said her son fell on a knife he was playing with. Once she was arrested, she also told police she called 911 immediately after he was stabbed and that she pressed a towel against a rush of blood.
But paramedics responding to the home found Brown-Rockow was not bleeding. And doctors found no blood in his abdomen. They determined he had been stabbed earlier.
Separately, the boy also suffered blunt-force trauma to his abdomen, causing a tear in his small intestine that was not treated.
The injury “would have resulted in significant pain and discomfort for (Brown-Rockow). (He) would not want to move, and would have exhibited vomiting and increased discomfort over time as (he) became septic,” the complaint states.
His official cause of death would become blunt-force trauma to his abdomen, which his siblings denied causing in interviews with police.
The medical examiner also reported both of Brown-Rockow’s arms had recently been broken, as well as his wrist.
“A reasonable caretaker would have sought timely medical care for (Brown-Rockow’s) fractured arms and (his) abdominal injuries,” the complaint states.
Police also found Brown-Rockow’s vomit-stained bedding on the back porch, where presumably he had been sleeping. Rockow said he had been wetting the bed recently.
Doctors and the medical examiner also reported the boy was bruised “head to toe,” had no muscle tone and was malnourished. They noted contusions, cuts and soft tissue hemorrhages covering his body, including to his head and internal organs. He also had human bite marks on his skin.
In Rockow’s internet history police found several searches about concealing black eyes, “at home treatment for head trauma,” stomach bloating and swelling solutions and various kinds of physical restraints dating back to July.
Rockow told police she had no explanation for the severity of his injuries, the bruising or the bite marks.
Rockow also told police her son attended virtual school and she had not taken him to the doctor since he was placed in her care last year.
If convicted of both charges, Rockow faces up to 66 years in prison.
Child abuse resources
Anyone with information about a violent incident in Milwaukee can contact police at 414-935-7360. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers, at 414-224-TIPS, or through the P3 Tips app.
Report child abuse and neglect to Milwaukee County Child Protective Services at 414-220-7233.
Read about the signs of child abuse and neglect at dcf.wisconsin.gov/cps/signs.
Raise awareness about child abuse and neglect and sign up for prevention training with Children’s Wisconsin at childrenswi.org.
Contact Milwaukee’s Child Mobile Crisis and Trauma Response Team: 414-257-7621.
Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or . Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.
