A South Carolina couple was denied bond on Thursday after they were charged in the death of their 4-year-old son.
According to WHNS, medics were called to the home of Destiny Dionne and Joshua Latimer on September 19 when they called 911 to report their son, Isaiah Dionne, was unresponsive. Medical personnel said the boy was cold to the touch when they arrived.
The pair were later arrested and denied bond, but Dionne filed a new motion asked for a reconsideration.
Prosecutors argued against her motion, telling the court details of the young boy’s condition when first responders arrived.
“He was basically skin and bones, for a lack of a better word,” said 10th Circuit Solicitor Micah Black. “One of the EMS personnel basically described it as … similar to something you’d see on TV, to starving children in Africa.”
Black said the boy was forced to sleep on a blanket on the floor instead of a bed and mattress. He said the curtains in his room were stapled shut and couldn’t be opened.
Black further said that evidence indicated the child had been locked in a closet at some point and said the parents often denied the boy water, forcing him to drink from a toilet.
Neighbors told investigators that they’d brought food to the home following a medical incident and that Isaiah rapidly ate adult-sized portions. They did not report the information.
Black further said said Isaiah hadn’t seen a doctor in two years, although another child in the home had seen a doctor. The other child appeared fine, he said, and is now in state custody.
A medical examiner is still waiting toxicology reports before releasing a cause of death.
Dionne and Latimer, who was a South Carolina state trooper until his arrestoi, are charged with homicide by child abuse and unlawful conduct towards a child. Latimer had been a state trooper since 2017.
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[Featured image: Joshua Latimer and Destiny Dionne/Oconee County Sheriff’s Office]