Three persons were charged Jan. 8 with abusing a two-year-old girl whom maintenance workers found bound with duct tape in a Houston, Texas residence in November, according to reports.
Kenry Joseph Flukers, Toniesha Deshae Perkins, and Mya Jhari Breaux-McGruder were charged with injury to a child by omission and unlawful restraint after two maintenance workers invited to the residence to repair a dishwasher allegedly found the child duct-taped at her ankles on the living room floor, The State reported. The workers reportedly took a photograph and video of the girl and left the residence.
The girl’s weight reportedly was about that of an average one-year-old. She was diagnosed with a brain bleed from head trauma, as well as acute kidney injury, anemia, and malnourishment, and might not have survived another night had she not been taken to a hospital, according to the outlet.
The girl had been living in the home in full custody of her cousin Perkins since September as her mother lived out of state, the outlet noted.
Texas Maintenance Workers Went to Fix a Dishwasher. They Found a Taped-Up, Nonverbal Toddler Police Said Was Close to Death https://t.co/HjLVSLCEUK
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There reportedly were five other children in the residence, all apparently healthy.
Two of the children, a pair of twins belonging to Perkins and her boyfriend Flukers, reportedly said they saw their parents bind the girl and that the girl “gets popped” or “gets a whooping” if she took the tape off. Perkins, however, allegedly told one of the twins to tell investigators that she and her brother liked to duct-tape each other and that she duct-taped the girl, too. (RELATED: Woman Found Guilty Of Torturing Special Needs Son, Appears To Throw Up On Stand When Shown Photo Of Malnourished Body)
Flukers reportedly told investigators that the girl was duct-taped because she was sneaking into the fridge, pantry, and trash after refusing food she was given. One of the twins reportedly told investigators the girl “can’t have none of our food because she will waste over the food and if she wastes over it, she can’t have no more food.”
The toddler was non-verbal, ABC13 News reported. The three accused reportedly had been living in the residence for three months and now faced a combined sum of nearly $500,000 in bonds for their charges.