A Riverside couple is behind bars after investigators determined that they starved their two children to the point that they nearly died.
Maleah Renee Henry-Reed, 20, and Dustin William Shade, 25, were charged with endangering children and tampering with evidence.
The allegations against the pregnant woman and Shade stemmed from a visit to the Hope Medical Center in Dayton, on January 17, when Henry-Reed brought her sick 15-month-old daughter in critical condition.
Officers responded to the hospital after the toddler was found to only weigh less than 10 pounds. She was severely malnourished and was admitted to the ICU.
“No parent who cares for their children would allow them to get so dehydrated, or not even have food and go to the weight that they did, it's ridiculous,” prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said.
After doctors alerted authorities to a suspected abuse at Henry-Reed's house, officers obtained a search warrant and discovered the couple's other child, a 5-year-old boy, in a similar condition.
The boy was malnourished and weighed around 20 pounds and needed immediate medical care. Detectives said that the abuse took place between September 2021 and January 2023.
“It's very difficult for one to believe that no one else saw those children. It's hard to believe that no one else, neighbors, family members, especially over the holidays, no one else noticed these severely underweight children, and also that they didn't report it to the authorities,” Heck added.
“There's simply no excuse for what these starving children endured. These defendants were literally starving their children to death. Thankfully the victims received the urgent medical care they desperately needed.”
