5-year-old Ohio girl starves to death; weighed only 21 pounds

CLEVELAND — An Ohio couple received their prison sentences after letting a 5-year-old girl starve to death.

5-year-old Kamryn Riley had special needs and died weighing 21 pounds in March 2023, according to Cleveland.com.

Riley was taken to the hospital in late March, but the coroner said she had already been dead for at least 48 hours, Cleveland TV station, WOIO-19 reported.

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She was pronounced dead on March 22.

Law enforcement investigated the house where Riley lived and found three other children, WOIO-19 reported.

24-year-old Janicea Brooks, the child’s mother, and 32-year-old Collyn Green, Brooks’ live-in boyfriend, were arrested in April 2023, WOIO-19.

The two eventually plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, and endangering children, according to Cleveland.com.

On Thursday, Feb. 9, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge sentenced Brooks to 17 years in prison. Green was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

According to Cleveland.com, Brooks suffered from undiagnosed depression and was too overwhelmed to care for four young, special-needs children to realize Riley was suffering.

Brooks relied on Green to care for the children while she was at work.

In court, Green’s attorney said he lacked “the intellect” to care for children who were not his own. The attorney also claimed Green developed a drug habit, Cleveland.com reported.

To justify Green’s longer sentence, the judge cited his lack of mental health diagnoses and a prior conviction for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

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