Prosecutors have provided further details surrounding the starvation and murder of a 12-year-old boy at the hands of his biological father and stepmom who were charged with homicide in connection with the case.
Max Schollenberger was found dead inside a call at the family’s Annville home. The room was filthy and covered in feces with the windows closed shut and no natural or electrical light at all.
Schollenberger was reportedly kept there for long years. He never went to school or to see a doctor and was only 47.5 pounds and 50 inches tall when he passed away at 12.
Investigators said that his siblings who lived at the same home had no idea he even existed. His cause of death was ruled as blunt force trauma to the head complicated by his starvation status.
“Today marks the first step in the long path of justice for this little boy. Max Schollenberger existed – I will not call this living – in a state of perpetual suffering; He existed in the most egregious and foul of conditions. He remained starved, locked away, and isolated until his killing,” DA Pier Hess Graf said.
“This child never looked forward to his first day of school, blew out candles on a birthday cake, or experienced the unconditional love of family. The utter despair that was Max Schollenberger’s life begs for justice for his death.”
Scott Schollenberger Jr, 42, and wife Kimberly Mauer, 35, are being held without bond on homicide and endangering the welfare of children charges.
