Coroner: Boy Starved, Not Sick
Grandmother, Aunt Charged In 4-Year-Old's Death
SCOTT COUNTY, Miss. -- The Scott County coroner said on Thursday that a 4-year-old boy who died of starvation had no pre-existing conditions.
Several witnesses questioned by Scott County investigators said that the two women charged in connection with a 4-year-old’s starvation death blamed the boy’s condition on sickness, the Scott County Sheriff said.
Austin James Watkins weighed 19 pounds when he starved to death on Nov. 9, police said. Investigators believe he had not eaten for about two weeks.
According to investigators, his aunt, Stephanie Bell, 22, and his grandmother, Janice Mowdy, 43, may have actually forced the child to eat whatever was left or crawling around on the floor of their trailer just to survive. Both are charged with murder and felony child abuse.
Several family members and friends told investigators that Mowdy and Bell blamed Watkins' deteriorating condition on some kind of sickness that was being treated by a doctor.
Sheriff Mike Lee said Mowdy and Bell would often fully clothe Watkins, so when visitors came by his badly starved body was hidden beneath layers of clothing.
Scott County Sheriff's Department investigators met with Scott County District Attorney Mark Duncan on Wednesday about the case they're building against Mowdy and Bell. Details of what was talked about during the meeting were not being released, but Duncan said he plans to present the case before a grand jury sometime in early 2009.
"I don't know if complex is the right word -- there’s just a lot of things that need to done and information that needs to be gathered and we want to make sure we've got everything done before we let this go before the grand jury," Duncan said.
Mowdy and Bell have denied any wrongdoing, Lee said. The two women were being held without bond on Wednesday at the Scott County Detention Center.
Tune in at 10 p.m. on Thursday to watch a special "Who's Accountable?" report on the Austin James Watkins case. Should DHS be held accountable for what happened to him and could they have done more? 16 WAPT News has the answers during Thursday's special report.