SARASOTA, FL – A mother and a father are in jail on five felony counts after Sarasota detectives found out that their three children were severely malnourished, dehydrated and beaten. One victim, a 4-year-old boy, was so badly malnourished, he had no hair and couldn’t talk.
The Department of Children and Families notified the Sarasota County Sheriff’s detectives about the severe case of child abuse a DCF officer was working at the All Children’s Hospital. The case involved a 6-year-old boy and 4-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. The children were extremely malnourished, one of the twins, the boy, weighing only 22 pounds. Doctors said it is a normal weight for an 11-month-old baby.
SCSO Detective Megan Buck visited the boy at the hospital. What she saw shocked her.
“The sight of the 4-year-old boy took my breath away,” Detective Buck said. “My description of him when I saw him was that he looked like a skeleton. His body was skin and bones. He has no hair because of lack of nutrients. He has a skin rash and marks from the lack of nutrients. He is non-verbal and cannot talk.”
The girl weighed 26 pounds and was at the hospital as well. The older brother was still at the house with the parents, Kimberly Haygood, 27, and Anthony Jones, 30. Haygood weighed 195 pounds at the time of arrest. She is 5 feet 5 inches tall. Jones is the same height and weight, according to the probable cause affidavit.
According to the Child Protection Center in Sarasota, the older boy told them that the children live with their mother, but their dad is at the house all the time. The boy said that it’s their dad who beats them with a belt. The boy said Jones beat the twins if they “boo-boo” in their pants.
Both boys had markings on their body presumably from the belt, the girl didn’t.
When officials talked to Haygood, she told them the 4-year-old boy had an aversion for food, but would eat Cheetos and milk. She had a prescription for him for Pediasure but let it lapse when she had a still-born baby and couldn’t function, according to the case documents. Since then she’d feed him milk but the doctors at the hospital didn’t believe her statement. The boy’s intestines were completely empty, the doctors told SCSO.
Haygood and Jones were taken to the Sarasota County jail.
Haygood has been charged with five felony counts: two counts of Aggravated Child Abuse, two counts of Child Neglect – Greatly Bodily Harm, and Child Neglect. Jones has been charged with five felony counts: two counts of Aggravated Child Abuse, two counts of Child Neglect – Greatly Bodily Harm, and Child Abuse.
Haygood is held on a $50,000 bond with no contact with the victims and no contact with Jones. Jones’ bond is $60,000, he is also ordered no contact with victims or minors. Additional charges for both Haygood and Jones are pending, according to SCSO.
