Intentional neglect of a parent toward their child is a serious crime; and depending on the gravity, when it results in death, the charges against this could be heavy. As such, the parents of a four-year-old girl with diabetes are facing multiple charges, including murder, over how they fed the child before her death.
Parents Face Charges
According to Newsweek, a girl from Ohio who was just four years of age died on January 25, 2022, at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. County prosecutors are alleging that the girl had been given Mountain Dew by her parents and upon death, was extremely malnourished.
The prosecutors said that the girl, Karmity Hoeb, had been fed Mountain Dew through her baby bottles. They also alleged that the girl no longer had teeth upon death due to how malnourished she was.
Newsweek reports that the parents, Christopher Hoeb, age 52, and Tamara Banks, age 40, are facing murder charges along with others. Both of them were indicted on July 27. According to the Clermont County Common Pleas Court documents filed, other charges against them included endangering children and involuntary manslaughter.
Online jail records show that both of them are in the Clermont County Jain and were held without bonds. As for the prosecutor's office, the cause of death was said to be diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
Diabetic Ketoacidosis
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diabetic ketoacidosis, otherwise known as DKA, is serious and even potentially fatal for people that already experience type 1 although people with type 2 can still develop it.
DKA happens when the body is deprived of insulin for cells to be fused with blood sugar in order to produce energy. In order to sustain, the body then breaks down fat through the liver to produce ketones.
When a flux of ketones is produced, they could reach dangerous levels within one's body. Some DKA symptoms include always being thirsty or too much urination; but if untreated, more severe symptoms could include dry skin, tiredness, muscle stiffness, nausea, stomach pain, and more.
Mark J. Tekulve, the prosecutor on the case, said that the parents neglected her to the point that they didn't even know she had DKA. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the four-year-old's diabetes remained undiagnosed and untreated.
Karmity was Brain Dead
On January 21, the parents called 911 when they found the girl to be unresponsive; and it was later determined that she had actually become brain-dead. On January 25, she was then taken off life support.
WKRC, the local news outlet, said that the little girl experienced neglect and abuse, according to prosecutors. The parents are now being accused of denying her proper nutrition and medical care.
Instead of milk formula, the court documents revealed that she had been fed Mountain Dew mostly, which according to PepsiCo's website, has 77g of sugar and 91mg of caffeine in every bottle worth 20 ounces.
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