A Florida couple is accused of severely neglecting the woman’s 5-year-old son—who weighed just under 25 pounds and was unable to talk or walk when investigators found him.
WFTV reports that Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigators went to the Daytona Beach home on June 28 and witnessed the boy lying on the floor, attempting to eat cereal scraps off a filthy carpet.
Investigators noted that the child was very thin and appeared dehydrated. Upon further inspection, they noticed his hands and feet were orange and he had peeling skin and blisters.
The boy’s mother, Naomi Hall, 24, was arrested on June 29, while her husband, Brian Hall, 29, was arrested on Tuesday.
A police report obtained by The Daytona Beach News-Journal revealed that Naomi admitted to DCF investigators that she didn’t give her son his appetite stimulant medicine and she didn’t feed him for four days. Naomi also claimed she does not communicate with her son.
“She checks on him randomly and determines if he may need something by his facial expressions,” the report stated. “[Hall] also [said] she knows when the victim is hungry because he will chew on his hands.”
The 5-year-old also never received any form of education and nobody ever taught him how to communicate, the report also detailed.
Brian allegedly told authorities that his two children, that he shares with Naomie, were taken care of. DCF has since taken custody of the two other children living in the home.
“He is not my responsibility. I’m not his father. I come from a rich and white family.”
The 5-year-old is in the intensive care unit, where he is receiving physical and speech therapy. A judge allowed the mother to visit her son in the hospital, according to WFTV.
Naomie is accused of child neglect causing great harm. The News-Journal reported that she has been released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on $35,000 bail.
Brian is charged with failure to report abuse, neglect or abandonment. He is currently being held on $5,000 bail.
[Featured Image: Volusia County Jail ]
