5 arrested for starving disabled 7-year-old to death in Florida: BSAO

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WFLA) — Five people have been indicted and arrested for the starvation death of a 7-year-old child in Fort Lauderdale, the Broward State Attorney’s Office.

On Dec. 25, 2023, Deonte Atwell was pronounced dead from severe malnutrition, with the State Attorney’s Office noting his “bones were protruding through gaping holes in his skin,” according to autopsy findings.

Fort Lauderdale police and fire rescue responded to a 911 call of a child in distress just before 8 p.m. Atwell was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Two hundred fifty-four unopened bottles of the child’s feeding formula were found in the home at the time, the State Attorney’s Office said. It was also reported Atwell died during a scheme to defraud Medicaid.

Atwell was diagnosed at birth with thoracic spina bifida and hydrocephalus, leading to him having a breathing tube and feeding tube and requiring around-the-clock care.

The victim’s mother, 37-year-old Michelle Doe, brother Tyreck Irvin, 21, maternal grandfather James Graham, 70, the owner of Samaritan Home Care Provider Mirlande Moltimer aka Mirlande Ameda, 47, and licensed nurse Cassandre Lassegue, 33, were all arrested in connection with his death.

Doe and Irvin are also charged with neglect of two other children, ages 9 and 16, who lived at the home.

Irvin, Moltimer/Ameda, and Lassegue are being held with no bond. Graham has a bond set at $22,000 and may be released under house arrest.

Doe is scheduled for her first appearance on Wednesday.

Below are the charges each defendant is facing:

Michelle Doe

• First-degree murder
• Aggravated child abuse
• Aggravated manslaughter of a child
• Neglect of a child (16-year-old)
• Neglect of a child (9-year-old)

Tyreck Irvin

• First-degree murder
• Aggravated child abuse
• Aggravated manslaughter of a child
• Neglect of a child (16-year-old)
• Neglect of a child (9-year-old)

James Graham

• Aggravated manslaughter of a child
• Neglect of a child (7-year-old)
• Failure to report child abuse (7-year-old)

Mirlande Moltimer, aka Mirlande Ameda

• Aggravated manslaughter of a child
• Third-degree felony murder
• Medicaid provider fraud
• Neglect of a child (7-year-old)

Cassandre Lassegue

• First-degree murder
• Aggravated child abuse (7-year-old)
• Aggravated manslaughter of a child
• Third-degree felony murder
• Medicaid provider fraud
• Neglect of a child (7-year-old)

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