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Akemi Cox: Mom gets 30 years after 'extremely skinny' 8-yr-old son found searching dumpster for food

The boy, who was just over 3 feet tall and weighed 30 pounds, was kept on a no-sugar, crackers-only diet for years

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EDMOND, OKLAHOMA: An Oklahoma mother was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday, March 23, after pleading guilty to one count of child neglect. Akemi Cox reportedly starved her 8-year-old son - who was described as "extremely skinny" and weighed around 30 pounds - and kept him on a diet of crackers only.

Cox and her fiance, Valerio Garcia, were arrested in 2021. The latter's charge was dismissed at the state’s request. In February 2021, the case came to light after a child welfare specialist contacted the Edmond Police Department about the severe neglect of an 8-year-old boy.

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Boy was found rummaging through dumpster 

The neighbors called a caseworker after seeing the boy digging in a dumpster for food, according to NBC’s Oklahoma City affiliate KFOR. The outlet reported that the boy, whose name hasn't been revealed to protect his identity, was just over 3 feet tall and weighed 30 pounds. Authorities said he wore clothing that fits the average size of a 2-and-a-half-year-old child.

“His stomach is distended, yet he is extremely skinny, and his skin is sagging,” the case worker reported, the news station said. At a hospital, a doctor told a case worker, “At a minimum, this case is medical neglect, possibly shocking and heinous.”

No-sugar diet

The child was placed in the care of health services. Police came to know that in seven years, the boy only gained six pounds. The parents allegedly claimed the boy was on a “no sugar” diet and reportedly only fed him crackers. An officer asked if he could buy the boy some food from the cafeteria while at the hospital but his mother declined. Cox even took away food from the boy at the hospital, saying it had “too much sugar,” the station reported. Cox had reportedly lost custody of five other children prior to her arrest.