Horrific Discovery

• 🚨 Maintenance workers in a Houston apartment complex found a 2-year-old girl near death, starved and bound with duct tape, after hearing inconsolable crying while servicing a dishwasher.
• 🔍 They discovered the child lying under a blanket with her limbs duct-taped together, prompting them to take photos and videos before calling Houston Police.

Severe Abuse and Injuries

• 🏥 Doctors reported the girl was non-verbal, suffering from physical and psychological abuse, and was so emaciated her weight was equivalent to an average one-year-old.
• ⚠️ Her extensive injuries included a brain bleed from head trauma, anemia, acute kidney injury, bilateral subdural hemorrhages, subconjunctival hemorrhages, and retinal hemorrhages, indicating she was hours away from death.

The Accused and Their Actions

• ⚖️ The child's guardian and cousin, Toniesha Deshae Perkins, her boyfriend, Kenry Flukers, and the toddler’s teen aunt, Mya Jhari Breaux-McGruder, are charged with injury to a child and unlawful restraint.
• 💬 Other children in the home revealed the toddler was beaten with a belt for "wasting food," slept on the floor, and had a lock on the refrigerator to prevent her from accessing food.

Medical and Psychological Insights

• 🩺 Medical professionals can determine a patient's proximity to death through clinical assessment and vitals, with acute kidney injury often resulting from physical impact to the kidney area.
• 🧠 A psychologist explained that abusers often view children as objects to be "taught a lesson" through punishment like restricted movement and food, driven by a desire for power and authority.

The Cycle of Abuse and Accountability

• 🔗 While some suggest a cycle of abuse stemming from caregivers' own adverse childhood experiences, the panel emphasized there is no excuse for such horrific actions.
• ⚖️ All adults in the household are considered equally responsible for failing to intervene, with calls for charges including felony child abuse and attempted murder.