Parents of Mesquite 9-month-old girl who 'starved to death' charged with capital murder
MESQUITE, Texas - Mesquite police have now charged both parents of a 9-month-old girl after she was found starved to death.
Mesquite police say they responded to a home on Byrd Drive last Friday after Leon Johnson, 22, called 911 about his daughter, Maliyah Johnson, being unresponsive and not breathing.
First responders told police they met Johnson and his sister in the driveway to hand them the infant and immediately realized she was already dead.
Dispatch told police, "The child was beyond help."
The responding officer noted that Maliyah was pale and looked extremely malnourished.
Johnson was arrested and charged with capital murder last week.
On Tuesday, Mesquite police said they have also charged the 9-month-old’s mother, 23-year-old Destiny Avila, with capital murder and arrested her.
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Mesquite man charged with capital murder of 'severely malnourished' 9 month old
A Mesquite man has been arrested and charged with capital murder after his 9-month-old daughter was found "extremely malnourished" and "clearly deceased," according to an arrest affidavit.
Police say Johnson and Avila did not live together but shared custody of Maliyah in the weeks leading to her death.
"During this time, the child was clearly in medical distress based off her emaciated state," police said in a press release. "The investigation revealed both individual’s inactions led to the starvation and death of the child."
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by FOX 4, Johnson told an officer that Maliyah had not been eating for a couple of days and would throw up anything she ate. He told police he was supplementing Pedialyte to keep her hydrated, but was afraid she would overdose. He said that morning, he woke up at 9 a.m. and found her lying in vomit. He said he picked her up and was holding her. She spit up again and then made a "gurgling sound before she fell out of his arms."
Because the victim was under 10 years old, the parents’ murder charges were automatically enhanced to capital murder.
Avila is being held in the Mesquite Police Jail. Her bond has not been set.
Johnson is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $1 million bond.