Who is Tracyraquel Berns? All about the subject of Burden of Guilt on Paramount+

Tracyraquel Berns spent most of her life questioning the untimely demise of her baby brother Matthew. He died when he was just four months old and Berns was just two years of age. Although his death was originally ruled an accident, Berns discovered a shocking fact when she started looking into Matthew's death. She had been blamed for the death of her brother.

Burden of Guilt is the latest documentary on Paramount Plus, which follows the story of Tracyraquel Berns as she sets out to uncover the truth and get justice for herself and her brother. The three-part true-crime documentary series follows her emotional journey.

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Who is Tracyraquel Berns? All about the woman who is the subject of Paramount's Burden of Guilt

Tracyraquel Berns is the sister of Matthew, who died when he was just a four-month-old baby. Although he died when she was just two years old, the incidents around his death always haunted her. Matthew’s sudden demise became a shadow that haunted Berns throughout her childhood and as she grew older, the unanswered questions surrounding his death started making her uncomfortable.

She was sure that there was more to his death than she had been made aware of. Thus, she decided to embark on her own investigation to answer the questions she had about her brother's death. Little did she know that what she would discover would shatter her world completely. The medical records of her brother's death revealed that she had been blamed for Matthew’s death even though she was herself a child of two years at that time.

Determined to clear her name and get justice for her brother, Tracyraquel Berns embarked on a relentless quest for truth. Her efforts in the investigation led authorities in DeKalb County, Georgia, to come to the extraordinary decision of exhuming Matthew’s body 25 years later. This confirmed that his death was indeed a case of homicide.

Berns is the subject of the documentary series Burden of Guilt and it follows her quest for truth as she pieces together the lies and deceit that surrounded her brother’s death and also misled her. With the help of forensic specialists and prosecutors, Tracyraquel Berns intends to expose shocking revelations about her family and the death of her brother.

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About Burden of Guilt on Paramount Plus

Burden of Guilt follows the emotional journey of Berns and pieces together her quest through interviews and chilling courtroom scenes, which offers a raw look at a family’s darkest secrets and a woman’s fight for justice. Divided into three episodes, Berns recounts her journey for justice for herself and her brother and attempts to answer the question of who killed Matthew.

Burden of Guilt premieres tomorrow, Tuesday, February 4, 2025, on Paramount Plus. Directed by Patrick Stegall and co-produced by Susan Zirinsky’s See It Now Studios with Glass Entertainment, the docuseries is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Susan Zirinsky and Terence Wrong executive produce for See It Now Studios, and Aysu Saliba and Cara Tortora are supervising producers, while Nancy Glass and Jon Hirsch executive produce on behalf of Glass Entertainment.

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Based on the hit podcast by the same name, Burden of Guilt is a first-person narrative coming directly from Tracyraquel Berns. She recounts her quest to unravel the convoluted lies behind her baby brother Matthew’s sudden death when she was just two years old.

Catch the Paramount docuseries tomorrow on Paramount's streaming site.