A six-year-old boy weighing only 17 pounds died Friday after the child’s father and stepmother starved him and his brother for nearly two years as a form of punishment, police say.
Michael Roberts and Georgena Roberts, both 42, were charged with first-degree murder and two counts of endangering the life and health of a child in Jerseyville, Illinois.
On Friday around 4pm Jerseyville, police responded to the Jersey Community Hospital to investigate the death of a severely malnourished boy.
Preliminary findings of an autopsy on the child show that the cause of death was failure to thrive due to ‘Extreme Malnourishment,’ KTVI reported.
Michael Roberts (left) and Georgena Roberts (right), both 42, were charged with first-degree murder in relation to the starving death of his six-year-old son. The couple are accused of starving the child and his brother for nearly two years as a form of punishment
Police say Michael Roberts is the child’s father, along with another seven-year-old boy who was also ‘deprived of food’ as ‘a form of punishment.’
A total of five children lived in the home with the couple, but are now in protective custody.
The couple is being held at the Jersey County jail; bail has been set at $500,000 each.
They appeared in court on Monday where the state’s attorney and Jerseyville police revealed the horrific details about the living conditions inside of their home.
One of the couple’s neighbors said that they were a very secretive family.
‘I had no idea that there was supposedly six children living in the house at all,’ Lucas Dickerman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
‘They never brought them outside to play. They never brought them over to say hi or anything. Very secretive people.
Preliminary findings of an autopsy on the child show that the cause of death was failure to thrive due to ‘Extreme Malnourishment. ‘ The couple, who lived in Jerseyville (file above) is being held at the Jersey County jail; bail has been set at $500,000 each
‘Just crazy to think that something like that happens next door to you, especially in a town like this where stuff life that usually doesn’t happen.
‘All these people that are wanting children that can’t have children and they go and do something like that.
‘It’s just beyond me, especially being a new father. I can’t imagine doing something like that to your kid.’
Court documents from their appearance say that between December 2015 and Friday that the couple caused the child to become ‘extremely malnourished.’
They are also accused of ‘withholding food and nourishment on a constant basis’ from the child and his seven-year-old brother, who was also suffering in ‘a state of severe malnourishment caused by them,’ court documents state.
Both Robert and Georgena are scheduled for another court hearing on November 13.