Mom, caregiver face charges for starved 3-year-old
Ivan Moreno, Rocky Mountain News
Published October 19, 2007 at midnight
Denver police today arrested the mother of a 3-year-old girl who weighed less than 22 pounds when she was hospitalized last week.
The mother's roommate, Tina Marie Houcks, 36, who police said was the child's primary caregiver, has already has been charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.
The child was "suffering from extreme dehydration" when she was taken to a Denver hospital Saturday evening and weighed about 19 to 22 pounds, according to a police affidavit.
The child's mother, Shaunee Hall, 22, and her roommate took the girl to the emergency room because she was breathing "weird, her eyes rolling around in her head and being unresponsive," the affidavit said.
A doctor told police the child had an "extremely high sodium level due to extreme dehydration and malnutrition," and that her condition was due to "100 percent neglect."
The girl's name and condition were not released.
Hall, of Denver, told police on Monday she first noticed her daughter's weight loss two weeks ago but didn't take her to a doctor because she thought the child was going through a growth spurt, the affidavit said.
However, after the child was hospitalized, Hall also told a Denver Human Services caseworker that her daughter began losing weight in February but she didn't take her to a doctor because of relatives' advice and because of "her own small stature," the affidavit said.
This week was the first time Denver Human Services had contact with the child or her caregivers, said spokeswoman Benilda Samuels.
Police said Houcks was the child's primary caretaker because Hall attended classes five days a week at Metropolitan State College of Denver and was not home until after 5 p.m.
Houcks is being held at the Denver County jail on $75,000 bail, the Denver District Attorney's office said. Hall also being held on $75,000 bail on suspicion of child abuse. She is expected to be charged next week, spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said.
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
