A 44-year-old Georgia woman was arrested after officers discovered her 14-year-old son lying in a bed weighing only 49 pounds.
According to the Oakwood Police Department, Hashabah Yehudah faces second-degree child cruelty charges.
The investigation began on July 25, when Yehudah allegedly refused to take her son to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta despite doctors’ requests. According to a press release obtained by Law&Crime, officers conducted a welfare check on the boy at his apartment in the 3400 block of Peaks Circle.
According to an incident report obtained by local ABC affiliate WSB, the doctor’s office and hospital called the mother several times about her son’s medical care, but she was “screening” the calls and not answering or responding to them.
When officers arrived at the home, the boy’s brother answered the door and said he was in the bedroom. When cops arrived, the boy was “skinny and lying on a towel on the bed,” according to the complaint.
According to the press release, officers asked Yehudah why she did not take the boy to the hospital as requested. She reportedly said she wanted to get his iron up first, claiming that if she had known he needed to be taken to the hospital right away, she would have done so.
Officers called the Division of Family and Children Services and Children’s Healthcare and “confirmed that his health was critical and needed to be transported to the hospital immediately.”
The affidavit reportedly stated that the situation was a “emergency and the child’s life is in danger.”
Yehudah was arrested and taken to the Hall County Jail, where she remains without bond. It is unclear whether she has retained an attorney.
Neighbors said they usually keep an eye out for the children in the complex, but they hadn’t seen the boy.
“I tell you, this community here is full of people who love and care for each other’s children,” neighbor D.M. Willis told WSB. “And unfortunately, it looked like one slipped through our hands and we weren’t able to see that or we weren’t aware of that.”
The boy remains in the hospital and is in the care of child services.
