Sagal Hussein: Wisconsin mom whose son's rotting, mummified body was found in her car pleads not guilty
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN: A mother-of-three accused of letting her five-year-old disabled son die and later mummifying his corpse, has pleaded not guilty. During a court hearing in Wisconsin on Tuesday, September 29, Sagal Hussein officially denied causing the death of her son Josias Marquez, whose mummified corpse was found in a duffle bag in his mother's car in March, The Sun reported.
Authorities believe the wheelchair-bound boy, who was blind and depended on others to eat, had been dead for several months before they discovered his remains in the boot of Hussein's car. Young Josias was last seen in public back in November 2019. Medical records state the boy was severely disabled and had been diagnosed with epilepsy and cerebral palsy. That said, Hussein is accused of killing her son by failing to take him to medical appointments or give him his seizure medicine.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported how Hussein, 30, was taken into custody on March 30 after police grew suspicious of her due to inconsistencies in her story and refusal to cooperate over the search of Josias Marquez. The authorities had started investigating his disappearance on January 26 after a neighbor called to report that two of her children, aged 2 and 6, were unattended outside their home. It was then that they learned about her third child, Marquez, who was wheelchair-bound and relied on others for feeding.
When questioned about the young boy, who was last seen on November 25 last year, she claimed he was with his biological father in Michigan. However, investigators found no records of the man she identified. The boy's biological father, who lived in California, said he had become concerned for his son's well-being following a phone conversation on March 26 where she told him she "f****d up" and was "in a hell of trouble."
A few days later, police executed a search warrant to seize her car and sent it to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab to be searched, which was when Marquez's body was uncovered in the cargo area of the vehicle. During a subsequent autopsy, he was found to be "significantly undernourished" and "mummified." He weighed just 20 pounds, with a doctor stating that his level of nourishment "was severe and would have created a significant risk of death."
The body also "had mold in places" and a long dark-colored hair was located on the decedent's left thigh. Based on the decomposition, it was determined that the five-year-old had been "deceased for months." While his cause of death was unclear, Marquez had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and his doctor said that because of his serious seizure history, he could have had a "fatal outcome" from a seizure without his medications.
However, his medical records indicated that he had not received treatment for his various health conditions since 2018 and was not taking any of his prescribed medications. Asked about the same, Hussein said she had not given him his seizure medications because she was treating him with CBD oil. Speaking to Fox 11 in April, Hussein’s mother Ismal said she was appalled by the allegations. “What I know is my daughter, Sagal, is that she was a loving mother and she didn’t kill her own son and what I believe is it was not her intention to hurt or kill her own child," she added.
That said, Hussein’s two other kids have been taken into foster care since her arrest. The mother-of-three is now facing nine charges in the death of Josias, including chronic child neglect resulting in death. Hussein is currently being held at Brown County Jail on a $500,000 bond, and will next appear in court for a procedural hearing on December 7.