Michelle Doe, the mother, is shown on the left. Right: Deonte Atwell (GoFundMe).
After a 7-year-old with spina bifida who required “around-the-clock” care, a feeding tube, and a breathing tube was pronounced dead in Florida on Christmas Day, two days after his birthday, weighing only seven pounds, prosecutors allege that the boy’s own mother, brother, grandfather, a home care business owner, and a nurse are all to blame for the victim’s starvation — and four of the five defendants are charged with murder to varying degrees.
After Deonte Atwell’s death, some “264 unopened bottles” of “feeding formula” were found inside of his Fort Lauderdale home on Southwest 11th Street, the Broward County State Attorney’s Office said Wednesday when announcing the serious charges against his mother, 37-year-old Michelle Doe, his brother, 21-year-old Tyreck Irvin, his grandfather, 70-year-old James Graham, and two home care defendants, 33-year-old nurse Cassandre Lassegue and 47-year-old Samaritin Home Care
Authorities said that the evidence shows Atwell’s “bones were protruding through gaping holes in his skin,” that he “died of severe malnutrition,” that he died “during a scheme to defraud Medicaid” of more than $10,000 but not more than $50,000, and that he may have been “dead for quite some time” before a 911 call reporting “respiratory distress” was made late on Christmas night.
“The victim was diagnosed at birth as a’medically complex child’ with thoracic spina bifida and hydrocephalus, he had a breathing tube and feeding tube, and he required around-the-clock skilled nursing care,” prosecutors noted, emphasizing the presence of “264 unopened bottles” of formula at the residence.
Doe, who started a GoFundMe in January claiming that her “baby son passed away at the age of 7 due to his birth defects” and had a difficult life, is now accused of crimes that could land her in prison for the rest of her life or worse if convicted.
She is charged with first-degree murder, a capital felony, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter in the death of a child, and neglecting two boys, ages nine and sixteen.
While Atwell’s brother, Tyreck Irvin, faces the same charges, his grandfather is charged with aggravated manslaughter, child neglect, and failure to report abuse, and, unlike his co-defendants, he has been granted a $22,000 bond.
Tyreck Irvin, Atwell’s brother, is seen on the left. Right: Atwell’s grandfather, James Graham (Broward County Jail).
However, the two home care defendants are each charged with third-degree felony murder, Medicaid provider fraud, child neglect, and aggravated manslaughter, the latter of which can result in up to three decades in prison if convicted.
Lassegue is also charged with first-degree murder, as detectives allege that the victim was neglected for six months to a year and that the nurse stopped going to the home despite claiming to have done so in writing.
Mirlande Moltimer (on the left). Right: Cassandre Lassegue (Broward County Jail).
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