Georgia couple charged after 5-year-old daughter died of ‘dehydration and malnutrition’ weighing just 7 pounds
HALL COUNTY, GEORGIA: A couple is facing murder and child cruelty charges after their little daughter died due to severe malnourishment. Jerrail Maurice Mickens and Porscha Danielle Mickens were arrested on Tuesday October 27, after their daughter, Kylie Mickens, died in June. As per reports, the parents took the five-year-old to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, but since her weight was very low and her condition also did not seem fine, she was shifted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. However, Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said they got a tip from the Northeast Georgia Medical Center officials regarding the child. On June 8, Kylie died weighing only seven pounds, prompting an investigation by authorities including the Division of Family and Children Services. During the investigation process, a number of interviews and a search were conducted at the Mickens home.
But the arrest of the 31-year-old father and 29-year-old mother came after an autopsy result concluded earlier this month that Kylie died because of “dehydration and malnutrition due to medical neglect, with the manner of death being homicide,” Booth stated. No further details related to the case have been released yet. Both Jerrail and Porscha were taken into custody at their home on Rustic Pine Lane near Buford, Georgia, and have been held at the Hall County Jail with no bond. Each of them is facing felony murder and first-degree child cruelty charges.
In another incident, a ten-year-old Indiana boy died after suffering “physical abuse”. Leviticus Kuchta’s sister and another woman were charged on Friday, October 23, after the victim died. April Wright and Rachel R Wright, both aged 26, have now been charged with murder, aggravated battery, and child neglect resulting in death. According to Merrillville Deputy Police Chief Kostas Nuses, the boy was found dead on October 12 at a home in the 7100 block of Fillmore Street. Police officers, who responded to the scene after receiving a call about an unresponsive child, called it “deplorable living conditions”.
Kuchta was pronounced dead at the scene while another child, aged 3, who was living at the property was removed by Child Protective Services, police said. “Investigators conducted several interviews over the course of the following days that revealed the initial reporting details of the death provided by Rachel and April Wright to not be true. Preliminary findings during an autopsy revealed several injuries consistent with a history of ongoing physical abuse to the child,” Nuses added. After the incident both the suspects reportedly ran away, but eventually they were detained at a family member's residence in Valparaiso. Both of them were sent to the Lake County Jail and no bond has been set for them.
Reports also added that this was not the first time April’s name has come up in a violent case. In February this year, she pleaded guilty to felony domestic battery after attacking an ex-girlfriend, Man-nisha D Bowers, in a Hobart motel room on January 6, 2019. At the time, April had pinned Bowers down on a bed, threatened her with a knife, used pepper-spray on her face, and also punched her.