Starved Boy's Autopsy Results Expected To Take 3 Weeks

Grandmother, Aunt Charged In 4-Year-Old's Death

JACKSON, Miss. -- Autopsy results on a 4-year-old boy who starved to death aren't expected to be released for another two to three weeks, Scott County officials said on Tuesday.

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. The sheriff said investigators are looking into claims that Watkins may have been locked in a room and given only water, kept in a cage or tied up.

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.

Tammy Watkins was seeking custody of her two remaining children -- ages 6 and 9 -- but was told Monday during a court hearing in Scott County that she would need to get a stable job and show proof of a stable home before she could regain custody of her children.

Watkins said the pain of what happened to her son will take quite some time to heal. She said she's also feeling anger toward the boy's grandmother and aunt, who she now calls monsters.

"It's sad. You just wouldn't picture anything like that going on with your own child," Watkins said. "I'm going to get a job and try to fight for them. It's the most important thing in the world to me right now."

Mother Says She Had No Warning Signs

The Scott County sheriff said Watkins lost custody of the children in 2005 because of a drug problem. The Mississippi Department of Human Services gave custody of the children to their grandmother, Mowdy. Watkins said Mowdy and Bell didn't even allow visits.

"We weren't allowed up there. She kept all of us from there," Watkins said, "She didn't like me."

Watkins said there were no warning signs of what was happening. She said the last time she saw her son, Austin was happy and healthy.

"She could have given him back to me instead of doing this," Watkins said. "If she didn't want him, she could have handed him back. I would have gladly taken him."

Watkins said she is now turning her attention on her two remaining children, who were also in custody of Mowdy. They are now in DHS custody. Watkins said she spoke to them last week and is hoping to regain custody.

"I'm looking for a job. I will do anything and once I get the job and I can hold it like six months, I think DHS will really be interested," Watkins said.

Watkins told 16 WAPT she is holding DHS partially accountable for the death of her son.

Aside from Watkins' children, Mowdy was also in the custody of a fourth unrelated child. 16 WAPT has learned that the fourth child is also in state custody.

Mowdy and Bell were being held Monday in jail in Scott County without bond. Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee said both women have denied any wrongdoing.

Lee said on Friday that he's looking over 16 WAPT's stories, because some people to whom reporters talked may have known about the abuse and didn't report it.

An insurance policy worth $10,000 was taken out on the boy, police said. The document was actually pinned to the wall of Watkins' room.

The insurance policy was free from Gerber Baby Foods but would have paid $10,000.