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Destiny Avila, 23, is now also charged with capital murder of her daughter, 9-month-old Maliyah Johnson.
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Last week, police say the girl’s father, Leon Johnson, 22, called 911 because Maliyah was not breathing. First responders found her extremely malnourished and realized she was already dead.
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Police say both of the parents’ inactions led Maliyah to starve to death.
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Johnson and Avila’s charges were automatically enhanced to capital murder since the victim was under 10 years old.
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Destiny Avila, 23, is now also charged with capital murder of her daughter, 9-month-old Maliyah Johnson.
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Last week, police say the girl’s father, Leon Johnson, 22, called 911 because Maliyah was not breathing. First responders found her extremely malnourished and realized she was already dead.
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Police say both of the parents’ inactions led Maliyah to starve to death.
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Johnson and Avila’s charges were automatically enhanced to capital murder since the victim was under 10 years old.
Texas’s MesquiteAfter a 9-month-old girl was discovered starved to death, Mesquite police have now accused both of her parents.
After Leon Johnson, 22, called 911 last Friday to report that his daughter, Maliyah Johnson, was unconscious and not breathing, Mesquite police said they arrived at a residence on Byrd Drive.
When first responders met Johnson and his sister in the driveway to give them the baby, they quickly discovered she was already dead, they said police.
Police were informed by dispatch that “The child was beyond help.”
Maliyah appeared to be severely emaciated and was pale, according to the responding officer.
Last Friday, Johnson was taken into custody and charged with capital murder.
Mesquite police announced on Tuesday that they had also detained and charged 23-year-old Destiny Avila, the mother of the 9-month-old, with capital murder.
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Mesquite man charged with capital murder of ‘severely malnourished’ 9 month old
After his 9-month-old daughter was discovered “extremely malnourished” and “clearly deceased,” a Mesquite father was taken into custody and charged with capital murder, said the arrest affidavit.
According to the police, Johnson and Avila shared custody of Maliyah in the weeks before her death, although not living together.
According to a news release from the police, “the child was obviously in medical distress based off her emaciated state during this time.” “The investigation revealed both individual s inactions led to the starvation and death of the child.”
Johnson informed an officer that Maliyah had not eaten in a few days and would puke up anything she ate, according to an arrest affidavit that FOX 4 was able to obtain. To keep her hydrated, he told the cops he was giving her Pedialyte supplements, but he was worried she might take too much. He claimed that when he woke up at nine in the morning, he discovered her lying in vomit. He claimed to have scooped her up and held her in his arms. Following another spit-up, she made a “gurgling sound before she fell out of his arms.”
Because the victim was under 10 years old, the parents murder charges were automatically enhanced to capital murder.
The Mesquite Police Jail is where Avila is being detained. Her bond has not been set.
Johnson is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $1 million bond.
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Information in this article comes from the Mesquite Police Department and an arrest affidavit previously obtained by FOX 4.
Information in this article comes from the Mesquite Police Department and an arrest affidavit previously obtained by FOX 4.
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