University of Hartford student Chennel “Jazzy” Rowe has accused her roommate, Brianna Brochu, of systematically poisoning during the first few weeks of school as a means to get Rowe to move out, who she dubbed as “Jamaican Barbie.”
Rowe posted a 100-minute video recording of her allegations against Brochu via Facebook Live:
Brianna Brochu was arrested by the West Hartford Police Department on October 28. She has been charged with second-degree breach of peace and third-degree criminal mischief, both of which are classified as misdemeanors. She also faces hate crime charges, and Hartford police announced that she “will not be returning to the institution.”
In an Instagram post, Brochu appears to be bragging about poisoning her roommate, as she writes, “Finally did it yo girl got rid of her roommate!! After 1 1/2 month of spitting in her coconut oil, putting moldy clam dip in her lotions, rubbing used tampons (on) her backpack, putting her toothbrush places where the sun doesn’t shine and so much more I can finally say goodbye Jamaican Barbie.”
Brochu’s Facebook has since been set on private, but screenshots were taken of her comments regarding Ms. Rowe:
The story soon took off after she posted her 100-minute Facebook Live video. On Monday, the victim made a written statement regarding the crimes allegedly committed against her roommate. Rowe wrote, “As a young African American woman I don’t want to become another statistic. When it comes to college incidents/crimes and racial cases justice needs to be served. Colleges are known to just sweep issues that happen within the campus under the rug, making the issue disappear and not doing anything about it. Now this isn’t right at all and this is where the public gets involved to push for things to be done right. I’m not holding my tongue any longer about my situation because this is just ridiculous to hear nothing back from my school about this situation. As a African American woman I have to fight for myself and others to not become some statistic. I’m not making this known. I’m giving you guys the option to choose where you would like to hear this information either through Facebook live or Instagram. I will then go on live and let it be known.”
University President also released a statement regarding the incident, saying that, “I am writing to you this evening to send a strong message regarding an incident that is deeply upsetting to me, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. One of our students was the alleged victim of bullying and her story was shared across social media.”
“Let me be clear: the accused student’s behavior was reprehensible and does not reflect the values of our institution. Let me also be clear that I am confident the University has taken all steps to pursue this matter seriously, and will continue to do so.” Rowe believes that Brochu’s actions were likely racist in nature, saying that, “I don’t understand why, which is why I think it’s a whole racial/hate issue.”
