Infant dies of starvation after parents leave twins at home without food for four days to go on drinking binge
A Russian couple has been charged with murder after one of their twins died due to starvation while another still fights for life in a hospital. Margarita Yanayeva and her partner Alexey allegedly left their 16-week-old son and daughter by themselves at home without food while they went on a four-day lockdown drinking binge.
The couple’s “gravely emaciated” babies were found by their grandmother, who then called the police as she was unable to reach children’s parents by phone. The kids were taken to a hospital in the Russian region of Kamchatka. The baby boy was in a coma and died soon after, while his sister is fighting for her life. It has been said that the boy died from starvation while his sister is desperately weak in the intensive care unit.
According to reports, the 23-year-old mother lied to her friends and told them the babies were in the hospital with coronavirus. But the police said the mother and her 35-year-old partner from Russia’s Vilyuchinsk left the children locked at home all alone while they went partying for four days. “In the course of four days, they were not feeding the children and did not arrange alternative care for them,” an investigation source said. The pair, instead, “subjected them to hunger, did not ensure hygiene, leaving the minors were in a socially dangerous state.”
If found convicted, Yanayeva and her partner Alexey face up to 20 years in jail. The pair is also facing charges over failing in their parental duties and subjecting their children to danger.
In a similar incident, a six-year-old Arizona boy died after his parents kept him and his brother in a closet without food for a month. His parents were arrested and charged for the murder.
When police responded to the home of Anthony Jose Archibeque-Martinez and Elizabeth Archibeque-Martinez in early March, they found the unresponsive six-year-old boy. They tried to revive him but were unsuccessful, and he was declared dead the same day. Though the officers did not find any apparent signs of trauma, they noticed the child appeared to be malnourished. They interrogated the parents of the child, who then admitted that they kept the boy and his brother in the bedroom closet and denied them food at times. They said that the children had been kept there for around a month "because they were stealing food by sneaking out at night when the parents slept."
Further investigation into the case revealed that the children’s grandmother Ann Marie Martinez was also involved in the crime. The parents as well as the 50-year-old grandmother were subsequently charged with first-degree felony homicide and two counts of child abuse and booked into the Coconino County Jail. They are being held on $3 million bonds each.
The Department of Child Services (DCS) reportedly took the custody of the six-year-old's three surviving siblings, aged two, four, and seven. "We can confirm the child’s siblings are currently in DCS care and are receiving the care and services necessary to help them during this difficult time," they said.