Brooklynne Davis (Kent County Jail)
A mother in Michigan is in jail after one of her 19-month-old twins died weighing just 13 pounds while the other is clinging to life in the hospital, according to police.
Brooklynne Davis, 24, called Grand Rapids police around 5:20 p.m. Aug. 22 after she found her 19-month-old daughter dead. Cops and paramedics responded and found the girl “beyond help,” a press release said. They also found the girl’s twin brother in a “life-threatening condition” and rushed him to the hospital where he is continuing to receive critical care. There also was an 8-year-old in the home who was not in need of medical care. Child Protective Services took custody of that child.
The Kent County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the girl’s death to be a homicide. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Davis with murder and child abuse.
“This is one of the most horrific cases of child abuse I have ever seen,” Grand Rapids police Chief Eric Winstrom said in a statement. “Neither the first responders, or the detectives who worked tirelessly for justice, will ever forget this child. We are praying for the recovery of her twin brother who also suffered unconscionable abuse.”
Grand Rapids NBC affiliate WOOD and CBS affiliate WMMT obtained a probable cause arrest affidavit that identified the girl as Skii Swope. Investigators noted in the affidavit that Skii had sunken eyes and visible bones. She also had wounds that Davis attributed to diaper rash. Per the medical examiner, the girl died of starvation and malnutrition.
“He explained that this would be an intentional act not to feed a child to this extent and that Skii was also extremely dehydrated,” the affidavit reportedly said.
Davis reportedly told investigators she put the children to bed around 10 p.m. the night before and didn’t check on them until 8 a.m. She didn’t check on them again for another five hours when she found Skii “cold to the touch,” the affidavit reportedly said. Davis described the girl as “dead weight.”
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Bed bugs and lice infested the home and cops also found an emaciated dog that was going to the bathroom inside, the affidavit reportedly said. There was also a bathtub full of dirty water with a layer of film on top. The kids slept on a single, soiled mattress, according to the affidavit.
Davis would allegedly ignore the children for hours while she sat and drank alcohol and played on her phone. Sometimes she would wait until 15 hours had elapsed before she would feed them or change their diapers, the affidavit reportedly said. When she did feed them, she gave them chicken nuggets, French toast sticks and protein shakes.
“When we went in her apartment, when I tell you, the smell chokes you, you can’t be in there for too long,” neighbor Brianna Robinson told WMMT. “It smells like pee and feces, and there’s gnats everywhere, like, her apartment was really sad. It was terrible.”
Winstrom in an interview with WOOD said it was tough for him to wrap his head around the condition of the home and children. He called it “the worst conditions possible.”
“The pictures of this baby and the abuse to this child is probably the worst images that I have seen in years if not ever and it’s going to be difficult to get out of my brain,” he said.
Davis is at the Kent County Jail without bond.
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