GRIFFIN, Ga. — A Griffin couple has been arrested after neighbors found a 10-year-old boy who weighed less than a 4-year-old wandering their neighborhood.
Giffin police said they were called about a lost child walking down the street on Westminster Circle on May 12.
Neighbors thought the child looked very small and thin and brought him inside. When police arrived, the boy told him he was trying to go to Kroger to buy food and begged that they not “make me go back.”
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The child was taken to the hospital, where he is currently being treated for malnourishment and a low heart rate. Police said he weighed just 36 pounds.
According to the CDC, the average 4-year-old boy weighs around 40 pounds.
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“This child was, simply put, being starved to death, and it is tragic,” District Attorney Marie Broder said. “I truly believe that if he had not gotten out of that home, this would be a very different case.”
The boy’s parents, Tyler and Krista Schindley have been charged with criminal attempt to commit a felony, cruelty to children, false imprisonment and simple battery.
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Authorities said there were other children in the home and they are currently with the Department of Family and Children’s Services. Police said the other children, who were homeschooled, appeared to be ok.
“I mean, as a mother, I can’t comprehend it,” Broder said. “But as a human being, it breaks your heart. We aren’t releasing any photos of this child for obvious reasons. But I will tell you, the photos are absolutely horrible.”
Channel 2′s Tom Jones talked to a neighbor who said the family kept to themselves and rarely spoke. She said the boy looked like he was much younger and wore baggy clothes.
She said one of her neighbors saw him walking four days with no shoes on and that he looked confused.
Police said the boy’s father voluntarily turned himself in. It’s unclear when the mother was arrested.
The district attorney did not say if the couple has obtained a lawyer.
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