Parents Face Charges for Starving Baby to Death

A young couple from Chicago is facing charges for allegedly starving to death one of their baby daughters.

Markisha Jones, 19, and Gene Edwards, 22, residents of Bolingbrook, have been charged with felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with the death of their infant daughter Mya G. Edwards.

Prior to 7-month-old Mya's death in January, her parents had stopped giving the infant formula, police found out. Instead, for two months since Nov 1, she, along with her twin sister, was just given a bottle filled with water, cereal and some baby food.

Moreover, police found the twin sisters were left for long periods of time in the basement of a rented apartment in a single-family home in Barrington, while their parents were upstairs.

On Jan 8 shortly after noon, Edwards noticed baby Mya was no longer breathing. He attempted to resuscitate her while waiting for the paramedics to arrive.

But paramedics were also unsuccessful to revive Mya on the dining room table.They then took her twin sister Mia to Good Shepherd Hospital because of her serious condition.

Barrington Police said they had a four-month investigation.

"At this point, I don't know why they did what they did," Barrington Police Chief David Dorn said Friday. "Our whole statement throughout this has been how incredibly sad it is."

Mya's death was ruled a homicide due to malnutrition from starvation. The Department of Children and Family Services said the parents had neglected Mya and her surviving twin sister.

Alyssa Grissom, Assistant State's Attorney, said Edwards admitted he noticed Mya losing weight, still didn't do anything about it. It was learned none of the twin sisters had seen a doctor since the previous summer.

Mia, Mya's surviving twin, is now in a foster home.