Horror bodycam footage shows moment cops find starved 3-year-old weighing 16lbs huddled in room of trash-filled room
HEARTBREAKING footage shows the moment cops found an emaciated three-year-old in a bug-infested and trash-covered apartment.
On Thursday, Rabyah Muballigh the mother of the child, was sentenced to between seven and 10 and a half years in the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
In May, the 26-year-old pleaded no contest to the charges of felony assault and child endangerment which means she neither admitted to nor disputed the charges.
Body cam footage from two Fairborn, Ohio police officers who attended the apartment in January shows the filth and squalor the three-year-old child was found in.
Cops were called to the apartment by a woman who said that a young child was having breathing issues.
The footage from the officers who were on the scene before EMTs shows their shock and disgust at the state of the complex.
“Oh my god” both officers can be heard saying in the footage shared by Law & Crime as they searched the apartment.
The home “was covered in filth and contained a litany of insect infestations,” according to a news release from the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office shared by ABC News affiliate WBMA.
Both cops repeatedly called out to the residents of the home but had no answer.
As they moved through the extremely cluttered apartment, there was trash in all corners and fly tape hanging from the ceiling covered in dead bugs.
When the pair entered a bedroom at the rear of the property they found the child covered in bug bites, unresponsive, and lying near a heavily soiled bed.
The attending officers first believed that the child was dead as she weighed about 16 pounds.
“Oh, she’s still breathing, let’s go let’s go…” one officer said after realizing the child was still alive.
They tore down blankets from the window to get light into the room so backup could assist the child.
The floor was covered in empty bottles, the mattress was covered in human excrement and a cockroach could be seen scuttling across the wall in the horror footage.
The team carried the girl out and she was rushed to hospital.
“The child was in a contracted position and wearing nothing but a soiled diaper,” the news release from the prosecuting attorney’s office stated.
“Officers approached the child and determined, after the child gasped for air, that she was, in fact, alive.
“Paramedics immediately removed the child where she was taken to a local hospital for treatment.”
This is the worst case of child abuse I’ve seen in my 20-year career.
David D. Hayes
She was “extremely malnourished, weighing only 16 pounds” and was put in the intensive care unit.
“She was also found to have been suffering from numerous insect bites, and many other medical complications brought about by her mother, Muballigh,” the release added.
The child was eventually released from the hospital several weeks later.
“A clear infestation of roaches was observed in each of the two bedrooms as well as other areas of the apartment,” the affidavit stated.
“Inside the refrigerator and freezer were visible dead bugs and moldy food.”
Bodycam footage shows that Muballigh was located outside of the property after her daughter had been found.
“Do you know anything about the condition…if she’s okay?” the mother asked cops while cuffed in the back of their car.
“I do not. Right now you’re being arrested for child endangering at a felony level,” the arresting officer replied.
“At a felony level?” she asked before crying.
“This is the worst case of child abuse I’ve seen in my 20-year career,” prosecuting attorney David D. Hayes said in the news release.
“Muballigh is going to prison for several years, as she should.
“Her primary responsibility was to care for that child and she failed to do that and caused that child serious physical harm.
“Many parents feel overwhelmed and many parents need help.
“If you find yourself in a situation where you can’t handle it, reach out to the many organizations that can provide assistance.”
The press release from the prosecuting attorney’s office revealed that the child’s father Corey Michael Moody is set to go to trial in October after being indicted earlier this month.
The 29-year-old has been charged with endangering a child, obstructing justice, and tampering with evidence.