Maurice Brown Jr. 3, TN murdered

[Lady Cop]

The funeral for 3-year-old Maurice Brown Jr. nearly erupted into violence Saturday when a man walked to the front of the church saying the child's death occurred because his father "wasn't being a father." The accusation provoked a cousin of the father, who was restrained by friends then led outside the church before 10 squad cars arrived with flashing blue lights.

Funeral-goers gasped. Some screamed and ran from the church as a week of tension since the child's disappearance turned into fear. Many in the congregation followed the men out of the church and into the streets surrounding Progressive Missionary Baptist Church at 394 Vance. Others dialed 911, fearing emotions might escalate.

Rev. James Collins, who officiated, stood on the sidewalk after the funeral, saying, "It was already a volatile situation, and based on an insensitive remark it escalated. In a situation like this people need to remember that anger is part of the grief cycle."

Hundreds of people had attended an 11 a.m. wake for Maurice, known by family as "Junior," whose body was found in a South Memphis trash bin Tuesday. The father, Maurice Brown, 28, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in perpetration of aggravated child abuse.

The child was in an open 3-foot-six-inch blue coffin and with a baseball cap on his head to conceal autopsy scars. A dark gauzy veil was draped over the open end of the coffin, and the tiny body left many weeping as they passed by the coffin. Church members held boxes of tissues and passed them out as visitors passed through the long line.

It was during the funeral two hours later that the unidentified man walked out of the congregation and stood behind a front-row bench reserved for immediate family. He said the death happened because "a father wasn't being a father. I don't mean to lay blame . . . "

That's when a member of accused killer Maurice Brown's family yelled: "You just did." Friends immediately restrained the man who appeared to be heading across the sanctuary to confront the accuser. A woman with him said he is a cousin to Brown, but the man rushed away, declining to comment.