The parents of a Texas infant were charged with capital murder after she died of starvation last week.
Leon Johnson, 22, called Mesquite officers to his home after his 9-month-old daughter Maliyah became unresponsive and stopped breathing.
First responders found the father and his sister in the driveway of the home, holding the baby who was “beyond help” at the time.
An officer described the baby as pale and extremely malnourished. Johnson told police that his daughter was vomiting and not eating for a couple of days.
On Friday morning, he found her lying in vomit and after he picked her up, she spit up and made a “gurgling sound before she fell out of his arms.”
The father admitted to giving the infant Pedialyte to keep her hydrated but police said “the child was clearly in medical distress based on her emaciated state.”
Maliyah’s mother, 23-year-old Destiny Avila, was also arrested and charged with murder.
She and Johnson, 22, did not live together but shared custody of their daughter.
“The investigation revealed both individual’s inactions led to the starvation and death of the child.”
