PRINCETON, W.Va. (AP) - The aunt and uncle of a toddler who died of starvation have been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to felony conspiracy in the boy’s death.
Circuit Court Judge Mark Wills ruled on Monday that John and Janet Adkins of Princeton should serve 1-5 years on the charge, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported.
The case stems from the death of the couple’s 20-month-old nephew, Jeremiah Moore. The malnourished child died shortly after being taken to the hospital on Nov. 8, 2018. He weighed 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).
A jury convicted the boy’s parents, Corey Moore, 29, and Christy Moore, 27, last year of murder by a parent and child neglect resulting in death.
Attorneys for the aunt and uncle said the couple had been providing temporary food and shelter to the family. They said their clients worked night shift and rarely saw the children.
“He certainly would have done something about this had he known the situation,” said attorney Earl Hager, who represented John Adkins. Hager said Jeremiah was “relatively healthy” the last time John Adkins saw him.
Defense attorneys had asked for probation and prosecutor David Pfeifer said he wasn’t opposed to it, but the judge declined.
“I just do not feel you are candidates for probation because again as I stated earlier, how can you be in a home day after day and watch a child starve to death? Animals are treated better than that,” Wills said.
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