An Ohio mother was sentenced Friday in connection with the death of her 4-year-old daughter, who died after a diet of Mountain Dew and medical neglect.
According to ABC 9 WCPO Cincinnati, a judge sentenced Tamara Banks to nine years in prison, after she pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter, following the 2022 death of Karmity Hoeb.
The child’s father, Christopher Hoeb, also charged in the child’s death, awaits sentencing.
Banks was convicted of one count of involuntary manslaughter after the Clermont County coroner determined Karmity’s cause of death was diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that affects people with diabetes.
Prosecutors said the girl had diabetes “that was left undiagnosed and untreated over a long period of time,” leading to her teeth rotting out by the time she died.
Hamilton County Coroner’s Office records show Karmity died at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center on January 25, 2022. Prosecutors said Karmity’s death was a direct result of neglect and abuse from her parents.
The Enquirer reported that four days before her death, Karmity started showing signs of a “serious medical issue” while at home with her parents, according to court documents. Prosecutors stated in a court filing that the symptoms worsened as the days progressed, with Banks failing to call 911 until the child turned blue and stopped breathing.
First responders temporarily revived the victim; hospital scans later showed she was brain dead.
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Despite Karmity’s lack of medical treatment, Banks regularly refilled her own prescriptions and had doctors visit her apartment to ensure that her medical needs were met.
Prosecutors also pointed out Banks has several other grown children who were treated poorly in her custody, including a son who fell into a coma at 4 years old from previously undiagnosed diabetes. While the boy recovered, prosecutors said Banks continued to neglect his medical needs, failed to have him seen by a doctor and never attended his follow-up visits.
Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Victor Haddad said Banks should’ve had at least some idea of the dangers of diabetes due to her older child’s condition.
“It’s hard to be a good parent but you expect at least mediocre parents, everybody should expect that,” Haddad said during Friday’s hearing. “Not knowing what to do is not an excuse.”
Banks told the judge, “I thought I was taking care of her.”
Though Banks received a sentence of nine years, state law indicates that the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction can extend the sentence based on conduct while in prison, Banks could serve as much as 13.5 years.
The child’s father also pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and is scheduled to appear for sentencing on June 11.
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[Feature Photo: Tamara Banks and Karmity Hoeb/E.C. Nure Funeral Homes]
