Three female relatives of a 4-year-old Virginia boy were arrested this week after he died from starvation and a routine of horrific abuse earlier this month.
On Jan. 19, Prince William County Police officers found the child unconscious inside a Shallow Creek Loop apartment.
The boy died at a nearby hospital unveiling the “long-term abuse and neglect” he and his 5-year-old sister had been suffering at the hands of their three caregivers.
Rebecca Ann Romero, 53, Shanyah Elizabeth Dilda, 22, and Kemmilyn Anita Wade, 18, are facing charges of murder and child abuse in the case.
“The deceased was routinely bound in plastic wrap and packing tape and was found to be severely malnourished and dehydrated during the subsequent autopsy,” police said.
“Both children were also found to have been regularly deprived of food and water.”
A day before his death, the victim was pictured covered in plastic wrap from his shoulders to his toes, taped to a mattress covered in garbage bags and a pillow taped to the mattress covered his head.
The three women became the primary caregivers of the victim, his sister, and two teens after they were abandoned by their parents in 2023.
