Overview
- An investigating sergeant testified that recovered texts and audio captured the women insulting the boy and directing punishment such as repeated stair exercises.
- Photos shown in court depict the boys in onesies and later wetsuits that police allege were secured with zip ties, and investigators seized bags of zip ties from the home.
- The defendants have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and also face charges including unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon and failing to provide the necessaries of life to the younger brother.
- A pathologist said the child was severely malnourished and suggested hypothermia or cardiac arrest as possible causes, while the exact medical cause of death remains undetermined.
- The younger brother testified that both boys were confined and restrained and said the victim’s weight had fallen to 48 pounds before he was found unresponsive in a locked basement room on Dec. 21, 2022.