Three people in Texas are facing charges in connection to the malnourished 2-year-old girl who was discovered by maintenance workers in an apartment in November, KTRK in Houston reported.
According to court documents, 27-year-old Toniesha Perkins, her 23-year-old boyfriend Kenry Flukers, and Mya Breaux-McGruder, 17, have been charged with injury to a child by omission and unlawful restraint.
The three are accused of restraining the child by duct-taping her ankles together and failing to provide physical or medical care.
According to court records, on Tuesday, November 28, maintenance workers were called to the apartment to repair a dishwasher. When they arrived, they found the toddler lying on the floor in the living room covered by a blanket with her ankles wrapped in duct tape.
The workers contacted the police.
While the other five children inside the apartment were reportedly in good health, the 2-year-old was malnourished, underweight, and suffered from head trauma due to abuse.
The girl was transported to a nearby hospital where tests found that she suffered from anemia, brain bleeds, and kidney failure due to starvation and abuse.
An examination of the child determined that she was non-verbal. According to court records, if she had not been found, the child would likely have died.
Toniesha Perkins is the child’s cousin. She reportedly told Child Protective Services that the 2-year-old had been duct-taped by the other children in the apartment. However, Kenry Flukers told investigators that it was his girlfriend Perkins who duct-taped the girl to keep her from getting into the refrigerator, pantry, and even the trash, to eat more food than what she was given.
Perkins, Flukers, and Mya Breaux-McGruder had been residing in the apartment for three months at the time of their arrest.
KHOU reported that Perkins and Fluker were each in jail on a $150,000 bond. During their arraignment, the judge stressed that the child would have died if she had not received medical care when she did.
Breaux-McGruder was to be arraigned separately.