Father and pregnant mother arrested after children found 'severely malnourished'
01/30/2023 12:10 pm PST
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ohio (TCD) -- A 20-year-old pregnant mother and a 25-year-old father were recently indicted after their two children were reportedly found "severely malnourished."
According to Montgomery Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck Jr., police responded to a child endangerment call at a hospital after Maleah Henry-Reed brought her 15-month-old daughter to Hope Medical Center on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Heck said the child weighed less than 10 pounds, which was "closer to what a 15-week-old child would weigh."
The child was "immediately" transferred to the ICU at Dayton Children’s Hospital.
In a press conference posted by the Dayton Daily News, Heck said the 15-month-old girl also had a low heart rate and required intubation.
Riverside Police officers reportedly executed a search warrant at Henry-Reed and Dustin Shade’s home on the 5400 block of Burkhardt Road, where they were met by Shade, who was holding their 5-year-old malnourished son. The boy allegedly weighed about 20 pounds and had to be transported to the hospital via ambulance as well.
Heck said the parents’ home was "a mess, and the entire house smelled of urine."
At the hospital, medical staff reportedly noticed that both children had visible physical injuries, including "unexplained bruising."
On Friday, Jan. 27, Heck announced that the parents were both indicted on charges of endangering children –– physical harm, endangering children –– parent (serious harm), and tampering with evidence. Shade remains held in the Montgomery County Jail on $500,000 bond, and Henry-Reed posted bond and was released.
The prosecutor’s office has reportedly filed a motion to have the parents’ bond increased to $1 million each.
Heck said, "There is simply no excuse for what these starving children endured."
Heck added that the parents "were literally staving their children to death."
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