The foster parents of a 9-year-old boy who died “bruised from head to toe” were charged with murder in connection with his Sept. 19, 2024, death.
First responders rushed to the Detroit home of Sherman Devaughn Jones, 46, and Sampaguita L. Jones, 41, and found the victim unresponsive with “too many scars to count.”
The boy died at a hospital from an untreated pneumonia. Investigators later discovered that he was subjected to physical and emotional abuse before his demise.
“It is alleged that the defendants neglected and physically assaulted the child, resulting in his death,” prosecutors said.
During a Thursday hearing, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Erin Wilmoth shed more light on the “beyond egregious” abuse and “unimaginable pain and suffering” the boy, Owen, endured at the hands of the couple.
“In fact, the medical report notes that there were too many scars to count on Owen’s body. He was underweight with an extremely protruding stomach.”
“He had healing fractures as well as acute fractures, which means nonhealing, close-in-time to his death, fractures to his ribs, his pelvis, his elbow, scapula, humerus, his hands, his arms – I mean, the list goes on.”
“He was often locked away in his bedroom, not allowed to go outside, not taken for normal wellness checks,” Wilmoth added.
Owen’s death from pneumonia was “extremely rare” and occurred because the parents did not seek help and “ignored” the symptoms, according to the medical examiner.
