Chennel “Jazzy” Rowe probably started off her freshman year at the University of Hartford thinking her first year in college would start off as a new, exciting experience. Little did she know, her roommate would engage in vile activities against her, ultimately resulting in a bacteria infection and someone behind bars. Below are the major points of this story that you need to know and my personal questions and thoughts pertaining to this situation.
Poison and Violations
Brianna Brochu was also a freshman at the University of Hartford. Brochu obviously had hatred in her heart against her black roommate. Enough hate to spit in Jazzy’s coconut oil, pour moldy clam dip into her lotion, rub used tampons on her backpack, and stick her toothbrushes in “places where the sun don’t shine.” First off…who raised Brianna Brochu?! Who thinks to stick someone else’s toothbrush in their rectum or smear used tampons on a backpack?? Not only is that downright nasty, but disrespectful on so many levels.
Social Media
All dumb criminals always manage to tell on themselves in some way. Brianna exposed herself via Instagram and Snapchat. She recorded herself defiling Jazzy’s products on Snapchat. She posted pictures on Instagram of her “handiwork” and created captions detailing what she did to “Jamaican Barbie”, the name she called Jazzy. Even though Brianna was not going to get away with her heinous acts, she expedited the process of being discovered by taking it to the world wide web.
Housing Tried to Hit the Mute button
Jazzy began to move her things out of the room after feeling uncomfortable and taking a trip to the doctor to discover she had bacteria growing in her throat. After notifying housing officials about the situation, she was told to keep it quiet. Housing officials told her that if she went public, she would be removed from all housing on campus. Just let that sink in. This young woman had bacteria growing in her throat because her roommate was meddling with her belongings and she is supposed to keep quiet about it… That is the issue with universities all over the country. Students are afraid to speak out on the wrongdoings of the university or individuals at the university because they have been threatened with severe punishments. I applaud Jazzy for disregarding their attempts to silence her and taking to the internet to make this story go viral.
Punishment
The refreshing part of this story. Brianna Brochu was arrested on October 28th and charged with third-degree criminal mischief and second degree brief of peace. She is facing up to six months in prison for each charge. The Hartford Police Department will also be asking the court to add an additional charge of 53a-181k, intimidation based on bigotry or bias. Brianna has also been expelled from Hartford University.
The moral of this story is to always watch your back in roommate situations. If something is fishy, trust your gut and investigate it! Lastly but most importantly, do not be afraid to speak out! Big kudos to Jazzy for being fearless in speaking out, and making sure that her story was shared for justice to be served. Continue to watch Twitter and your favorite news channel for updates on this case.