Two maintenance workers alerted Houston authorities of a 2-year-old they found bound with duct tape while visiting an apartment to repair a dishwasher, court documents show.
The toddler was diagnosed with a brain bleed consistent with head trauma, as well as acute kidney injury, anemia and malnourishment, officials said in a Jan. 8 complaint filed in Harris County District Court.
The girl’s weight was equivalent to an average 1-year-old’s, according to documents.
Court records say the maintenance workers discovered the child Nov. 28 “duct taped on her ankles” on the living room floor. The took a photo and video of the girl and left the apartment, documents say.
A doctor who reviewed the child’s medical records said she may not have survived another night if she wasn’t brought to the hospital, according to court records.
Toniesha Deshae Perkins, the child’s cousin; Kenry Joseph Flukers; and Mya Jhari Breaux-McGruder, who all lived in the apartment together, were arrested and charged with injury to a child by omission and unlawful restraint, according to court documents.
McClathy News reached out to the attorneys for Perkins, Flukers and Breaux-McGruder on Jan. 12 but did not immediately receive a response.
Flukers, Perkins’ boyfriend, told authorities the toddler was duct taped because she was sneaking into the refrigerator, pantry and trash after refusing food she was given, according to court records.
Five other children lived in the home and appeared in good health, the complaint said.
In interviews with investigators, 6-year-old twins said they saw their parents, Perkins and Flukers, duct tape the 2-year-old, adding that she “gets popped” or “gets a whooping” if she takes the tape off, documents say.
One of the twins, according to records, told investigators that the toddler “can’t have none of our food because she will waste over the food and if she wastes over it, she can’t have no more food.”
Perkins told one of her twins to tell investigators that she and her brother liked to wrap each other up in duct tape, and that she did the same to the two-year-old, according to court documents.
The toddler had been living in the home under the full care and custody of Perkins since September as her mother lives out ofstate, according to the complaint.
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