A New Mexico woman who was arrested in February — months after her 5-year-old son allegedly died of starvation — appeared in court on Wednesday.
Marecella Montelongo’s son died in July after he was found unresponsive in their Alberquerque home. An autopsy determined the child, who was blind and had cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and other disabilities, died of starvation and dehydration, according to USA Today.
Montelongo, 23, was to feed her son via G-tube three times a day. She claimed she had just fed him, but a relative said the boy threw up and stopped breathing when they went to suction, according to KOAT.
A family member alleged that Montelongo was using drugs and not feeding her son his required formula. The autopsy report noted that the boy had 0 percent body fat and weighed 13.6 pounds.
Montelongo’s son was the subject of at least four reports to Child Protective Services in the years leading up to his death.
According to KOAT, a source said in September 2022 that a doctor assessed the boy in May 2022 and noted he was pale and barely moving. The doctor also told Montelongo to take him to urgent care, noting his weight dropped from 26 to 20 pounds.
Montelongo was also accused of failing to take her son to physical therapy after it was discovered that he had a dislocated hip during an August 2022 visit to a cerebral palsy clinic.
“This defendant made efforts to hide the abuse and this child’s demise from medical providers and from the school, going as far as withdrawing him from the school,” Judge David Murphy said on Wednesday, according to KOAT.
Montelongo is charged with child abuse resulting in death. The judge ordered that she could not file a motion for release until she completed an in-custody addiction treatment program.
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[Feature Photo: Marecella Montelongo/Metropolitan Detention Center]
